LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party and Congress are moving closer to a poll pact in Uttar Pradesh which could be formalized early next week with CM Akhilesh Yadav expected to meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.
Prospects of an alliance brightened with Akhilesh gaining the upper hand in the Yadav family war that has pitted him against father Mulayam Singh. Akhilesh is likely to meet Rahul on January 9. The discussions are expected to also involve Priyanka Gandhi and will aim to thrash out details of a deal that could see Congress contesting 90-105 seats in partnership with SP, well-placed sources said.
The meeting gains urgency, with seven-phase polls being announced. Akhilesh has spoken to Priyanka and the meeting will take place soon after Rahul returns from his overseas trip over the weekend.
It is clear that if the SP feud is not resolved, Congress will go with the Akhilesh faction that is seen to command the loyalty of a majority of SP MLAs and MLCs.
The SP-Congress combine is expected to bring about a greater consolidation of Muslim voters that should boost the allies in terms of countering Mayawati‘s BSP which has made an aggressive pitch to the minority community.
Mayawati has decided to field as many as 97 Muslim candidates of a total of 401, the highest number fielded by any party in UP so far. The alliance will, Congress and SP members hope, reassure voters that the regional party’s core Yadav-Muslim combination is intact.
It remains to be seen if this will pull in swing voters in the face of BJP‘s campaign that SP’s preoccupation with family feuds amounts to a disinterest in governance. Akhilesh, on the other hand, had presented himself as an alternative to SP’s traditional dependence on “strongmen” and aggression.
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