Lucknow: Small caste-based political parties that are being wooed by the Congress want their pound of flesh before clinching a poll alliance for the U.P. Assembly elections, likely to be held in February 2007.

The Congress in Uttar Pradesh has been pursuing the pro-active policy of formulating its election strategy with the support of small regional parties which exerted considerable influence on the outcome of the elections in at least 125 of the 403 Assembly constituencies.

The script has been authored by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, with the All India Congress Committee general secretary and in charge of U.P. affairs Ashok Gehlot and State Congress president Salman Khurshid acting as conduits for translating the script into action.

On Thursday, Mr Gehlot and Mr Khurshid attended a rally in Chandauli which was jointly organised by Bharatiya Samaj Party, Rashtriya Samanta Dal and a host of other smaller parties and caste `mahasabhas'.

In fact, the Congress leaders were invitees to the rally, which again was part of the action plan worked out by the Congress and representatives of the small parties.

Said Hemant Kushwaha of Rashtriya Samanta Dal , " since no poll pact has been clinched as yet with the Congress we invited Mr Gehlot and Mr Khurshid for the Chandauli rally for giving them the opportunity to assess the support base of the small parties".

RSD proposals

The Samanta Dal leader told `The Hindu' that he had sent a proposal to the Congress president through the UPCC president about four months back on forming a joint front in the State with around 30 small parties.

Subsequently, the leaders of small parties including Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of Bharatiya Samaj Party, Mr Kushwaha, P.C. Patanjali, former Vice-Chancellor of Jaunpur University, who represented the Vishwkarma `samaj', Sukh Lal, J.M. Bhagwan Saini and Firoze Khan held a meeting with Ms Gandhi in New Delhi on July 4. Mr Gehlot and Mr Khurshid were also present.

SC status

However, the leaders of the small regional parties have indicated that if the Congress is indeed serious to enter into a poll arrangement then it should first take steps to fulfil the demands of their `samaj' (community ).

The Bharatiya Samaj Party has been demanding Scheduled Caste status for Rajbhar, Bhar and Beear most Backward Classes, spread across in Azamgarh, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Allahabad and Faizabad divisions.

The Rashtriya Samanta Dal, which is essentially a party of Kushwaha, Shakya, Saini and Maurya MBCs, is miffed at all the 27 per cent quota benefit accruing to the `forward' OBCs. The party wants reservation on the basis of Backward Classes, Other Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes.

As Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of Bharatiya Samaj Party said: " I told Ms Gandhi that alliance could be worked out only if the Congress is ready to fulfil our demands".

Meeting with Ajit Singh

Stating that the Rajbhars were a fit case for SC status, Mr Rajbhar disclosed that he also met RLD president Ajit Singh and Lok Janshakti Party president and

Union minister, Ram Vilas Paswan in his quest to get SC status for Rajbhars.

Incidentally, the BSP president till last month was in the Jan Morcha of former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh. Mr Rajbhar had been named the U.P. convenor of the Jan Morcha.

However, he left Jan Morcha after Mr Singh failed to give any assurance on SC status to Rajbhars.

"It was only after Mr Singh came to know of my meeting with Ms Gandhi did he write a letter to the Prime Minister demanding Scheduled Tribe status for Rajbhar and Kol", Mr Rajbhar claimed.

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