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Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance in the pipeline?

Atiq Khan

Both parties will focus on preventing BJP from coming to power at Centre

The two outfits will also focus on checking the threat posed by Mayawati
Weaning Muslims away from the BSP will also be high on their agenda

LUCKNOW: With the contours of a Congress-Samajwadi Party pact reportedly taking shape, the focus of the two parties would be to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power at the Centre and also to counter the threat posed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati.

Given the fact that Uttar Pradesh sends the largest number of Lok Sabha MPs (80), the concentration of the two parties would be on reaching an understanding whereby the maximum seats are won by the combine.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the SP had won 39 and the Congress 9 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Seat-sharing

With the intent to increase the tally in next year’s elections, the focus has reportedly shifted to seat-sharing. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi told The Hindu that all adjustments would be made on the basis of a formula keeping in mind the fresh delimitation of the constituencies which had changed the complexion of several seats. “The party or combine winning the maximum seats in U.P. stands a fair chance of forming the government at the Centre. In an era of coalition, there is nothing wrong in having a pre-poll alliance for a secular government,” said Dr. Joshi.

The Congress intention is quite clear on what it wants from having an alliance with the Samajwadi chief, Mulayam Singh, who till last year was the party’s number one political adversary in the State.

Explained the State Congress chief: “ The Congress will not allow Lal Krishna Advani to become the next Prime Minister by capitalising on the division in secular votes, and secondly will prevent Ms. Mayawati from realising her ambition of getting power at the Centre.”

Notwithstanding the likelihood of the pact coming through soon, the first list of 19 seats, including the eight won in 2004, on which the Congress had made up its mind to contest was submitted to the party president, Sonia Gandhi in the first fortnight of June. Recently, an additional list was sent to the High Command that brought the number to 42. Dr. Joshi said if and when the alliance was announced, the seat sharing would be on the basis of the formula.

Barring the name of the SP candidate from Kannauj, Mr. Mulayam Singh too has not announced the names of the other candidates.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s Muslim card on the nuclear deal posed the biggest threat to the possible alliance between the two parties whose primary objective is to wean the Muslims away from the Bahujan Samaj Party. Former Minister and SP’s Muslim face, Mohammad Azam Khan said that the common Muslim masses were unaware of the nuke deal and now the Darul Uloom, Deoband has issued a fatwa that the Muslims should stop worrying as the nuclear deal was not a religious issue.

“Ms. Mayawati has no locus standi to say that the Muslims were opposed to the deal”, said Mr. Khan.

“Fascist parties”

According to the senior SP leader, an alliance with the Congress was in the pipeline. “Its basic aim is to stop the fascist parties from coming to power, especially the BSP which is more dangerous than the RSS”, Mr. Khan said from Rampur.

Deriding the Muslim clerics for meeting Ms. Mayawati, he said they were earlier with Mr. Mulayam Singh for 20 years but failed to get even 20 votes.

When contacted, the Naib Imam of Lucknow’s Aishbagh Idgah, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali, who was in the delegation that met the Chief Minister, said they had gone to meet Ms. Mayawati in her capacity as the Chief Minister and the nuke deal was not the sole issue but a list of problems faced by the community was presented to her.

‘Weigh options’

The legal convener of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Zafaryab Jilani, felt that the Muslims should weigh their options and the track record of the parties vis-À-vis solving their problems before extending their support.

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