The Hindu : National : It’s SP pressure tactic: Congress

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Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009
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It’s SP pressure tactic: Congress

Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party’s unilateral announcement of candidates for 52 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh is nothing but a pressure tactic; not so much for political mileage as for furthering its corporate agenda, the Congress said on Monday.

Leaders of the Congress in the know of the goings-on between the parties claimed that it was not surprised at the SP’s decision to go ahead with finalising candidature. “By and large, they have gone along with what was decided between the two parties,” a leader said, while conceding that the SP had finalised candidates for some contentious seats also.

“This is nothing but a pressure tactic.” Besides in the matter of a couple of seats outside Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is trying to mount pressure to have its way in the disproportionate assets case against some of its leaders, the spectrum controversy, gas allocation for the Dadri power project, land for an SP office in the capital, and more bungalows in Delhi’s Lutyens’ zone.

It was difficult for any responsible party to be bulldozed into accepting these demands, a Congress leader said. “Can we go into an alliance with a liability that can lead to a scam?”

And, comparisons with the Left are plenty within the Congress headquarters these days with several leaders saying the erstwhile allies made only ideological demands unlike the SP.

Meanwhile, on a day when the SP came out with its third list of candidates, Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh said the option of the alliance was open.

While conceding that the SP’s unilateral announcements did dilute the spirit of coalition dharma, Mr. Singh pointed out that friendly contests were inevitable in any alliance.

Asked whether the UPA-SP coordination committee would meet in the near future to iron out the rough spots, Mr. Singh said he was unaware of any meeting being scheduled as he was not a member of the panel.

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