Big Brother No More

Is all well between the UP ke ladke— the Congress and the SP? Akhilesh Yadav’s party was the only one that was missing at the Congress’ iftar in New Delhi. Later, SP sources let it be known that while the party is keen on a tie-up between the BSP and the RLD in the coming polls, it will bring the Congress on board only if the party agrees to limit its acceptance to only two seats. “Winnability is important” said the source, pointing out that the Congress has little influence beyond the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats. But, according to the Congress, the bargaining point in UP lies in MP because the Congress has reached out to the BSP for a tie-up, but not the SP. “So they are saying that if they are considered a negligible source in MP, then the Congress is negligible in UP,” he explained. Well, perhaps Akhilesh Yadav’s party has a point here because during the recent bypolls in Mungaoli and Kolaras, the Congress reached out to SP, asking it not to field any candidate to divide the anti-BJP vote and the SP had obliged. But when it came to Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls, the Congress did not play by the same rules. When approached by the SP at the time, Raj Babbar, the Congress PCC chief, instead asked that they leave Phuplur for the Congress and let the SP contest Gorakhpur. When the SP refused, the Congress went ahead and fielded its own candidates in both the seats, thereby dividing the anti-BJP vote. Clearly, the message from its old ally is clear—the Congress needs to dial down its Big Brother attitude.