While clarifying that the BSP, led by Ms Mayawati, or the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party are not “like-minded parties” in Uttar Pradesh, the AICC on Saturday said it will have no alliance wit
While clarifying that the BSP, led by Ms Mayawati, or the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party are not “like-minded parties” in Uttar Pradesh, the AICC on Saturday said it will have no alliance with these two parties in the upcoming state Assembly elections.
AICC general secretary in charge of party affairs in UP Madhusudan Mistry put the record straight on this issue. A statement issued by him says, “In UP, Congress will not have any alliance with BSP or SP.”
Responding to reports on social media and also on some news channels, Mr Mistry said in the statement, “Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been misquoted by media entities on the possibility of an alliance with BSP in UP.”
Earlier, a news website had quoted Mr Gandhi suggesting the possibility of an alliance with the BSP if it agreed to an arrangement like the Congress has with the Left Front in West Bengal. The website had quoted Mr Gandhi rejecting any possibility of tying up with the ruling Samajwadi Party. “An alliance with the BSP could, however, be worked out if the party agrees to an arrangement like the Congress has with the Left Front in West Bengal. The alliance though would be long shot, Rahul seemed to suggest, as BSP chief Mayawati may be unwilling to give the Congress as many seats as it wants,” the website had said. A section of the UP Congress has been keen on a pre-poll alliance with the BSP to check the BJP because it will unite the minorities, brahmins and dalits, which will be a formidable combination against the saffron party whose confidence has grown shaky after crushing defeats in the Bihar and Delhi Assembly polls. This is also a candid admission that the grand old party cannot win elections on the charisma of the Gandhi-Nehru family alone. Mr Gandhi has roped in poll strategist Prashant Kishor to make the Congress relevant in the UP battle, expected within 11 months.
A BJP defeat will not be seen as a setback to PM Narendra Modi, but it will have a bearing on the Assembly polls in Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where the fight has always been between the BJP and Congress.
According to sources, Mr Prashant Kishor was in favour of using Ms Priyanka Gandhi in the UP elections. He was said to have suggested projecting a brahmin face as the Congress’ chief ministerial candidate.
The Samajwadi Party cannot be seen as a natural ally of the Congress because its OBC votes have been anti-Congress historically in UP. Besides, it is facing anti-incumbency. But the BSP, too, is cautious of a pre-poll alliance with the Sonia Gandhi-led party fearing the latter can regain lost ground among dalits.
Ms Mayawati might have become UP chief minister with the BJP’s help in the past, but she will not allow the saffron party to win space among dalits. But Congress insiders feel the BSP cannot come to power merely on dalit votes and that it needs the support of the minorities and a section of the upper castes.
