With the common aim of stopping the BJP, a grand alliance of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, possibly also featuring the Rashtriya Lok Dal and a couple of smaller parties, moved closer to conclusion in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav won the battle for the ownership of the SP.
As the parties are still finalising details on seat distribution, a formal announcement could be made jointly in the next few days.
After weeks of speculation and back-channel talks, the first direct affirmation came through Congress general secretary in charge of U.P., Ghulam Nabi Azad, who asserted in Delhi that “there will be a Congress-SP alliance” under Mr. Akhilesh’s leadership.
The details would be decided and released in the coming days, he said, though for now he remained non-committal on the prospects of expanding the alliance to include other smaller parties.
“We will think about a Mahagathbandhan in the coming days,” Mr. Azad said.
Positive signal
The SP also gave out a positive signal, with the newly anointed national president saying a decision on the SP-Congress alliance “will be taken in a day or two.”
The CM’s remarks were made during a chat with journalists at his official residence.
The SP, which has 227 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly, is expected to contest the maximum number of seats.
Most keenly awaited is the number of seats the Congress, and possibly the RLD, whose support is key to checking the BJP in west U.P., would be allotted.
Congress sources said the party is likely to get 80-90 seats; it won less than 30 in 2012. The Congress’s presence is expected to help the SP-led alliance consolidate Muslim votes.
Uttar Pradesh has 80 LS constituencies and the Congress has insisted that it be allowed to field a candidate in each segment.
“If not, it will be difficult to mobilise workers for the 2019 LS polls,” a Congress leader said here.
U.P. has 80 Lok Sabha constituencies and the Congress has insisted that it be allowed to field a candidate in each segment.
“If not, it will be difficult to mobilise the workers for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” a Congress leader said here.
The Congress is expecting more seats in its pocket borough Amethi and Rae Bareli. The RLD is also bargaining for anything between 20-26 seats.
The alliance, however, may encounter last-minute glitches in the form of Mr. Mulayam Singh, who is yet to officially declare his stand after losing the “cycle” symbol to his son. On Monday, hours before the Election Commission’s decision, he had threatened to contest against Mr. Akhilesh, if needed.
A day later there was no official word from his end, even as his son met him twice in over just 12 hours in a bid to ensure that the embittered patriarch did not play spoiler.
SP sources, however, said after the Chief Minister’s overtures, Mr. Mulayam was not planning to field his own candidates or approach the court for the symbol.
Hours after the EC decided in his favour, Mr. Akhilesh called on his father on Monday night to apparently pacify him.
Soon after the meeting the CM tweeted three old pictures, including one of the duo and followed it up with another meeting on Tuesday morning. If Mr. Mulayam Singh decides to contest separately, it would complicate matters for the Akhilesh-led alliance.
“My relationship with him is unbreakable…I will take Netaji along,” Mr. Akhiesh told reporters here.
Mr. Mulayam Singh then submitted a list of 38 candidates for consideration. Though the list was not made public, sources said it included the names of Aparna Yadav, wife of Mr. Mulayam’s second son Prateek, and Aditya Yadav, Mr. Shivpal’s son.
Curiously, the name of Shivpal Yadav was missing. Senior ministers and loyalists of Mr. Mulayam who were earlier shunted out or ignored by Mr. Akhilesh are on the list.
Later in the evening, Mr. Akhilesh met his close aides, Ramgopal Yadav, Kironmoy Nanda and Naresh Agarwal to “examine” the list sent by Mr. Mulayam. A senior leader close to the CM as well as Mr. Mulayam told The Hindu after the meeting: “We are examining the list. As far as possible we will accommodate them.”
The source also said that vice-president Mr. Nanda would meet Mr. Mulayam on Wednesday to discuss the candidates.
