The Hindu : National : Congress plans pre-poll strategy with SP

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Congress plans pre-poll strategy with SP

Gargi Parsai

‘There is a possibility of talks with Ajit Singh’

NEW DELHI: The seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) will go beyond Uttar Pradesh. The Congress may yield a few seats in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar as part of its pre-poll strategy with the SP.

At the same time, even though Rashtriya Lok Dal chose to oppose the India-U.S. nuclear agreement in the trust vote of July 22 in the Lok Sabha, the Congress will keep its doors open for Ajit Singh to forge an alliance with the SP. “There is a possibility of talks with Mr. Ajit Singh,” AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh told journalists.

The seat-sharing arrangement and selection of candidates would be discussed between the leaders of both the parties within a week. Mr. Singh and PCC President Rita Bahuguna will lead the preliminary round of talks. The Congress Coordination Committee will meet in Lucknow on August 28. Even though delimitation had altered the character of the constituencies, the State unit had identified candidates for at least 30 seats that it wanted to share with Mulayam Singh’s party. Sources said in the end the Congress, which has nine MPs in the present Lok Sabha, may succeed in getting only 15 to 20 “winnable” seats.

Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in U.P. the Congress has nine MPs, including Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli), Rahul Gandhi (Amethi), Shriprakash Jaiswal (Kanpur), Mahabir Prasad (Bansgaon), Rajesh Mishra (Varanasi), Jitin Prasada (Shahjehanpur), Bijendra Singh (Aligarh), Manvendra Singh (Mathura) and Surendra Prakash Goel (Hapur). The RLD had three MPs: Ajit Singh (Baghpat), Anuradha Choudhary (Kairana) and Munsiram (Bijnor).

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