In the clearest indication yet of the Samajwadi Party’s calculations regarding the post-election scenario, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has said “the Congress should support a secular government from the outside.”
“When the comparison is between the BJP and the Congress, the latter appears closer to us. The Congress also moves closer to us when they are weak. This time they are going to be weak and I feel, they will come around to supporting a secular government,” Mr. Yadav told The Hindu.
He strongly pitched for a repeat of the 1996-98 experiment of a front of regional parties and sections of the Left forming a government with the outside support of the Congress.
“The Congress had done that in 1996. They should do it again this time.”
Mr. Yadav said the recent meeting of regional leaders and the Left in Delhi did not amount to formation of an electoral pact or a front.
“The front or pact will come after the elections. Right now the priority for each of these parties is to get the maximum number of seats.”