Maya, Akhilesh snub Congress on 7-seat offer

LUCKNOW: A day after the Congress said it would not field candidates in seven seats that were likely to be allotted to top leaders of Uttar Pradesh’s Opposition alliance, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati asked the party not to create confusion, reiterating that her party had no understanding with the Congress for elections in any state.

The Congress is free to field candidates in all 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, Mayawati said on Twitter, exuding confidence that the coalition of BSP, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) would be able to defeat the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the April-may Lok Sabha elections.

Retweeting a post by Mayawati, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav too snubbed the Congress by echoing similar sentiments. “In Uttar Pradesh, the alliance of SP, BSP and RLD is capable of defeating the BJP. The Congress party should not create any kind of confusion,” he said.

In politically crucial UP, the BSP will contest 38 seats, SP 37 seats and the RLD three seats, leaving out the two Congress pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

The Congress, left out of the UP alliance, said on Sunday it was thankful to the coalition for not fielding candidates in these two seats, and would leave seven seats from where top leaders of the alliance were likely to con- test.

“Can there be a bigger embarrassment for the country’s grand old party? The BSP’S snub to the Congress... is a reminder of its dwindling credibility. As a national party, the Congress should now either put up candidates in all UP seats or accept that it has now been reduced to a junior player...,” UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai said.

Earlier this month, Akhilesh, in what appeared to be a reconciliatory message, said the Congress was part of the coalition.

But about a week ago, Mayawati said her BSP won’t ally with the Congress anywhere in the country, dashing hopes of forging a united Opposition front against the BJP.

After Mayawati’s tweets on Monday, the Congress said it had left seven seats for the coalition as a show of “political courtesies”. “We have done this in past too. Now, there is no reason for Mayawatiji to be upset about our goodwill gesture. She is, however, free to decide her strategy,” Congress spokesperson Hilal Naqvi said.

A BSP leader said on condition of anonymity that Mayawati was working on a non-congress, nonBJP alliance across the country by joining hands with local parties.

L a s t we e k , Ma y a wa t i announced alliance with the Jana Sena Party (JSP) of actor-turnedpolitician Pawan Kalyan in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. On Saturday, Danish Ali, a leader of Congress ally Janata Dal (Secular), joined the BSP in Lucknow.