The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Chilldeepensinopp, Akhilesh hitsoutatcongovermptie-up
AMID RISING tension between the Opposition INDIA bloc allies, thecongressandthesamajwadi Party (SP), over the collapse of theiralliancetalksforthemadhya Pradesh Assembly elections, SP president Akhilesh Yadav Thursday accused the Congress of having“cheated” hisparty.
Akhilesh's statement came soon after UP Congress chief Ajayraiaskedhispartytowithdraw from the MP fray in favour ofthegrandoldparty, sayingthe SP did not have any base there.
Raialsosaidthatasanindia bloc partner the SP should rally behind the Congress if it wants to fight the ruling BJP in MP.
Speaking to reporters in Sitapurthursday, Akhileshhitout atthecongressandslammedrai. “Which leader are you talking about? The state president (Ajay Rai) has no ‘ haisiyat’ (status). He was not there at the meeting (of INDIA) inpatnaormumbai. What doesheknowabouttheindiaalliance,” hesaid, adding“congress should not get statements made by their ‘ chirkut’ (small-time) leadersaboutourparty.”
The SP chief also went after thecongress'smpheavyweights and ex-cms, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, charging they kept the SP leaders waiting till 1 am, whentheyhadgonetomeet themforseat-sharingtalks.“this meansthatyou’recheatingother parties. Thesepeoplearehandin glove with BJP. The Congress people are with BJP. If I had known that the alliance is not at the state level, then I wouldn’t have sent SP leaders to Digvijay Singhjiorkamalnathji,” hesaid.
Akhilesh claimed that the Congresscamphadindicatedthat six seats could be allotted to the SP, which would include its lone sittingseat. Healsosaidif theinDiaallianceisonlymeantforthe national elections and not the statepolls, thenthespwouldpay backinthesamecoinovertheup seat-sharinginloksabhapolls.
Thefissuresbetweenthetwo allies became evident Sunday, when the Congress announced candidates for four of the seven seats in MP, where the SP has already declared candidates. In a strong signal to its INDIA ally, the Spthendeclaredalistofninecandidates. Onwednesday, thespreleasedalistof22morecandidates.
Akhileshontuesday saidthe Congressmustclarifyitsstandon
Twitter/ @yadavakhilesh theallianceamongtheindiabloc partners and whether the sharing of seats would be applicable atthestateorthenationallevel.
On Wednesday, speaking to The India Express, Ajay Rai said, “Congress is standing with strength in Madhya Pradesh, so Samajwadipartyshouldsupport Congress as part of INDIA alliance, instead of contesting on seats when they have no base there.” As for Akhilesh's warning, hesaid,“oneshouldwaitfor Lok Sabha elections and let the results of five state polls come.”
Rai also said that while a decisionabouttheallianceinupfor the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is tobetakenbythecongresshigh command, the party's UP unit is preparing to contest on all 80 parliamentaryseatsinthestate.
Responding to the SP camp's charge that the Congress did not give them even the one seat that they had won in MP in the 2018 polls, Rai said even that MLA had later defected to the ruling BJP. “Thefightinmphaslongbeenbetween Congress and BJP. So instead of contesting on its own SP shouldsupportcongress,” hesaid.
The SP argues that by going byitsmprationale, thecongress with just one MP and two MLAS inupshouldsupporttheformer inupwhereitisthebjp'sprincipal rival.
Inthe2017uppolls, thethen incumbent SP had fought the elections in alliance with the Congress, with both Akhilesh and Rahul Gandhi addressing joint rallies in favour of the alliance candidates. Out of 403 seats, the SP had contested 311 seats while the Congress fought from 114 seats. There were then still 11 seats on which both of them fielded their candidates.
Inlastmonth'sassemblybypolls, the Congress supported the SP in UP'S Ghosi and refrained from fielding its candidate. SP candidate Sudhakar Singh trounced the BJP'S heavyweight OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan by 42,759 votes there.
In Uttarakhand's Bagheshwar bypoll, however, despite being a marginal player instatepolitics, thespfieldedits candidate, whocouldsecurejust 637 votes. The ruling BJP managedtoretaintheseat, defeating the Congress by 2,405 votes.
In the wake of these bypoll results, Raihadblamedthespfor thecongress'slossinbageshwar, chargingthespwithnotfollowing the “gathbandhan (alliance) dharma” incontrasttohisparty's gesture in the Ghosi bypoll.