New Delhi: As Uttar Pradesh moves into the fifth part of its seven-phase Assembly elections, cracks have started emerging between the parties of “UP ke ladke”. More than “Kaam bolta hai”, it seems the fissures have become the talking point these days, with a major section of the Samajwadi Party feeling that they erred in giving in too much to the Congress. Instead of being a force multiplier, the Congress, they say, has turned into an obstacle, hindering rather than helping the ruling party. Several factors have contributed to this unease.
For one, there have been reports from certain constituencies that voters are choosing the BSP over the Congress. “These votes would have come to us if the SP had fielded candidates from these constituencies. People don’t want to vote for the Congress,” an SP leader claimed. Quite contrary to the slogan the two parties have been chanting: “UP ko ye saath pasand hai”.
Since only three phases of polling are left, there is a feeling of despondency, but little can be done to rectify the problem now. Samajwadi Party leaders say that the Congress has been “unreliable” in the entire campaign. Since the alliance came together, neither the Congress nor its vice-president Rahul Gandhi has attacked the BSP supremo. Even at the first joint press conference of Mr Gandhi and Mr Yadav, the Gandhi scion only had good words to say for Ms Mayawati.
There persists a lurking suspicion that if the numbers don’t add up on result day, the Congress may jettison the alliance.
Adding grist to the mill are brash comments by Congress cadres. Statements like “whoever forms the government, it will be with the help of Congress,” further fuel the unease.
Another intriguing aspect is that the appeal for votes made by Congress president Sonia Gandhi was only for the Congress. Add to this the fact that the “friendly fight” in four seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli has left a bad taste.
The role of the brother-sister duo is also coming under severe criticism from the SP cadres. The innumerable, often contradictory leaks about whether or not Priyanka Gandhi will take part in campaigning have taken up more space than actual campaigning on the ground.
Three more phases with 141 seats are left in the all-important Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The Congress is contesting only 29 seats out of these 141. The tragedy for the SP, one leader said, is that they have to steer the coalition to victory as the “Congress is being more of deadwood than a catalyst.”
Some SP functionaries have begun recalling the fate of the Left parties who joined hands with the Congress to take on Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress during the last West Bengal Assembly polls. Though Trinamul Congress swept the polls, and Left was decimated with only 32 seats compared to 61 in the 2011 Assembly election, the Congress managed to increase its tally to 44 from 42 following the alliance.
“Congress could just become an albatross for us,” a senior SP leader observed.
