Congress delays UP list as hope of alliance with Akhilesh grows
Laptops and tablets to students and unemployment allowance to youth
NEW DELHI: The Congress has postponed its first list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh elections because of “some tangible forward movement” in its talks for an alliance with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP).
At the same time, the Congress has kept its “plan B” ready in case the negotiations break down over sharing of seats.
Akhilesh’s father and SP patriarch, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had walked out of the JD(U)-RJDCongress grand alliance before the 2015 Bihar elections following differences over the number of seats given to his party to contest. The anti-BJP coalition won the polls.
The Congress’s central leadership hopes that an alliance with Akhilesh could be formalised soon and a tie-up would help both parties.
The national party has been relegated to the state’s political margins after being voted out of power in 1989, while the SP is battling a bitter family feud with Akhilesh on one side and his father and uncle on the other.
The Congress is identifying and short-listing its contestants for all the 403 seats in the assembly. The seven-phase staggered elections in Uttar Pradesh will begin on February 11.
Party sources indicated that backchannel talks are moving in the “right direction” and a meeting between Akhilesh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi might happen to seal the deal.
LUCKNOW: From maintaining the dignity of the dead to free smartphones, the election manifesto of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh-Yadav is likely to ride solo in the 2017 state assembly election.
Team Akhilesh has started finalising its manifesto — be it for the Samajwadi Party or a new outfit — including the suggestions of the chief minister.
“Start coming up with ideas for poll manifesto in a week’s time,” Akhilesh had told party legislators at his residence on December 23.
“His manifesto will be sensational, development oriented and humane. It will be modern as well as traditional,” said an MLA.
Akhilesh has already announced free Samajwadi smartphones to voters, the registration for which has crossed the one-crore mark. He will also continue with the laptop distribution scheme.
The Samajwadi Party manifesto in 2012 was not his, but had his stamp all over. The promises included free laptops and tablets to students and unemployment allowance to youth.
However, this time there are slim chances of his getting a free hand in adding his suggestions to the party manifesto because he is neither the state president nor has any constitutional post in the national body. This is why he is preparing the manifesto on his own. “Ours will not be a populist manifesto. Despite being ambitious, people will have trust that Akhilesh will fulfil it as he has already fulfilled all the promises made ahead of the 2012 assembly election,” said a member of the CM’s team.
It is almost certain that maintaining the dignity of the dead will be a part of his manifesto. Last year, governments saw public outrage after a poor man from Odisha carried his dead wife’s body on his shoulder for 10 km because a hospital refused to provide an ambulance. More such incidents were reported in other states.
Akhilesh had also announced Samajwadi canteens to provide subsidised, nutritious and hygienic food to labourers at construction sites. However, the scheme did not take off. The project is set to become a part of the manifesto now.