BSP, SP support to Cong in MP triggers grand alliance speculation

LUCKNOW : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party’s support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan set off speculation about a grand alliance of opposition parties against the BJP-led NDA in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Mayawati said she decided to support the Congress in order to keep the BJP out of power in both the states, though she did not agree with the ideology and the policies of the Congress.

The BSP won two seats in Madhya Pradesh and six seats in Rajasthan.

Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav too announced his party’s support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

The SP failed to open its account in Rajasthan. “The SP is committed to keeping the BJP out of power. We have extended support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh,” he said in Lucknow.

He said he would abide by whatever the party decided.

The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the assembly elections, winning 114 of the total 230 seats. The BJP finished second with 109 seats. “We have staked claim,” Nath told reporters after the meeting the Governor. Asked who would be the CM, he said: “I don’t know.”

While the BSP won two seats in MP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged one seat and four independents also were elected in a closely fought election. The poll campaign was dominated by issues as agrarian distress, unemployment and corruption.

The Congress claimed the support of the BSP, SP and all the four independents who have won in the state. The party submitted a letter to Patel, claiming the support of 121 MLAs.

Seeking to “keep the BJP out of power”, BSP chief Mayawati said her party would support the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and, if required, in Rajasthan, too.

“We fought elections to keep the BJP out of power... We do not agree with the philosophy of the Congress. But to keep the BJP out of power, we will extend it our support,” Mayawati said in a statement. Her remarks came even as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said his party would support the Congress and added that the SP and BSP should do the same ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. In Rajasthan, the Congress staked claim for forming the government in the evening. A party delegation, comprising former chief minister Gehlot, Pilot, general secretaries Avinash Pande and Venugopal, apart from CP Joshi, met governor Kalyan Singh. “We have requested time from the Congress president’s office for Thursday and thereafter will inform the governor’s office and seek time,” Pande told reporters in Jaipur.

“We will be apprising Gandhi over today’s report – opinion of the legislators and thereafter the decision on the CLP leader will be taken,” he added.

A big crowd gathered outside the Rajasthan Congress office on Sansar Chand Road in Jaipur early on Wednesday. Supporters of both Gehlot and Pilot shouted slogans throughout the day. Pilot’s supporters even flashed a banner, claiming to have written it with their blood, urging the party to name him the chief minister. Both Gehlot and Pilot have said the Congress leadership should take the final decision.

In Chhattisgarh, the names doing the rounds for the CM’s post were Bhupesh Baghel, widely credited with reorganising the party after the assassina- tion of its top leaders by Maoist guerrillas in 2013, leader of the Opposition in the state assembly TS Singh Deo, party MP Tamradhwaj Sahu and former Union minister Charan Das Mahant.

The party’s state unit general secretary Shailesh Trivedi said the Congress president sought the opinion of party workers through a mobile app on who should be the next CM.

The Congress has won 68 out of the 90 seats in the state assembly elections, dethroning the BJP’s Raman Singh after 15 years.