SP-Congress alliance on the anvil

Hours after the Election Commission recognised Samajwadi Party led by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and allowed it to use the party symbol of ‘cycle’, there were indications of an impending SP-Congress electoral alliance in the state going to polls next month.

Sources in both Lucknow and New Delhi confirmed that negotiations were in the final stages. A formal announcement is expected any time, they told National Herald late on Monday evening.

Sources in both the parties confirmed that the alliance would jointly contest the election across the state. The attempt, they said, would be to project a youthful, inclusive and representative campaign.

Ramgopal Yadav, MP and a close confidante of the UP chief minister, replied with a cryptic, “all options are open” when asked about the possibility of an alliance with the Congress. Significantly, he added that the UP chief minister himself had spoken a number of times about the desirability of an alliance and declared that an SP-Congress alliance would be able to bag over 300 seats.

Even if that estimate is deemed to be an exaggeration, there is acknowledgment in political circles that the alliance would pose a formidable challenge.

If an alliance is indeed forged, say observers, this will be the first pre-poll alliance to contest in any election in the state in this century. All the past elections in 2002, 2007, 2012 and in the General Election in 2014, were four-cornered contests. BJP, SP, BSP and the Congress contested the elections separately.

While the alliance would make it a three-cornered contest, there are question marks on the next move of Mulayam Singh Yadav. There are reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party would encourage MSY to take the help of Lok Dal and put up candidates in all the constituencies. But while the BJP may be willing to bankroll such a venture, say observers, it will not be easy for the outfit to field candidates at this late hour, especially as the party organisation and supporters seem to be with Akhilesh Yadav.

Sheila Dikshit, projected as its chief-ministerial face by the Congress, reiterated on Monday that in case of a SP-Congress alliance, Akhilesh Yadav would be the natural choice of the alliance for the next chief minister.

The Election Commission’s decision and the pre-poll alliance, if it materialises, would further strengthen the position of Akhilesh Yadav, who appears to have fended off anti-incumbency to a significant extent.