Opposition strategy for grand alliance in UP going awry

Lucknow: A small deed is better than the greatest of intentions and the proposed grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh seems to have only wishful intentions and no deed — good or bad.

The three major political parties in the Opposition in Uttar Pradesh — Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress — appear to be going their separate ways after the tall talks of a joint front against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

To begin with, the Kairana Lok Sabha by-election is scheduled for May 28 and even though the Congress is believed to be ready to support the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the BSP has decided to remain neutral in this bypoll. The Samajwadi Party is preparing to announce its own candidate. The Opposition unity is hit for six or so it seems.

Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary admitted that his party was preparing to announce its candidates for Kairana Lok Sabha as well as Noorpur Assembly seats where by-elections are to be held. Both the seats were held by the BJP.

According to sources, all the three parties are keen to defeat the BJP in the general elections, but their egos prevent them from sitting across the table.

It has been almost two months since the BJP was defeated in the Lok Sabha by-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, but the leaders or their emissaries from the SP, BSP and Congress have not even had informal talks on an alliance, its leadership or even seat sharing.

Though all three parties choose to deny it, the major contentious issues that are stalling the alliance are those related to leadership and seat sharing.

While the SP and BSP are keen to take on the mantle of leading the alliance, the Congress is not willing to play a stooge either.

Congress leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui said, “The party is all set to emerge as a dark horse in 2019. We will make our presence felt as people know that it is the Congress that can challenge the BJP at the national level.”

The BSP has already struck a discordant note in the proposed match last week, when Mayawati claimed that the Congress and the BJP were both anti-dalits. Her attack on the Congress was badly timed and uncalled-for.

“Right now, we are busy with Karnataka polls where we are pitted against the Congress. The statement was made in the context of Karnataka and not Uttar Pradesh,” explained a BSP leader.

The Samajwadi Party also seems iffy over the alliance. Its patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav made it clear that the “Congress is not worth more than two seats” while party’s chief in Maharashtra, Abu Asim Azmi, threatened a revolt if the party aligns with the Congress.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on the other hand, has maintained a studied silence on both the leaders’ statements though he keeps reminding his party cadres that only an alliance can stop the BJP in its tracks.

The Congress, meanwhile, is keeping a low profile.

A senior Congress leader said, “I think both the SP and BSP realise that only a joint Opposition can stop the BJP’s return to power. We are not issuing statements or even reacting because it is the party high command which has to take the final call on this.”

Congress leader Imran Masood said, “As for Kairana, we feel that the RLD is on a stronger wicket and it is important for us to support it and wrest the seat from the BJP.”

In March, Samajwadi Party candidates supported by the BSP  defeated candidates from the ruling BJP in Lok Sabha by-elections in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies. Since then the bonding between the two parties had grown stronger but the Congress has maintained a studied silence.