'Main fight is between...': Congress plays down SP, JD-U fielding candidates in Madhya Pradesh, says no impact on INDIA alliance

AICC secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Kuldeep Indora told ETV Bharat on Wednesday that regional parties contesting state elections will have zero impact on the Congress prospects. "The main fight in the state is between Congress and BJP," he said. -- Reports ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi: The Congress has played down the INDIA parties SP and JD-U fielding candidates in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls saying the regional parties would have no impact on the grand old party’s prospects. Polling for all the 230 seats will take place on November 17. The result would be out on December 3.

The SP has so far announced 46 candidates in MP while the JD-U named five nominees on Tuesday. Out of the two, while the SP claims to have some influence in the Bundelkhand area bordering Uttar Pradesh, the JD-U hardly enjoys any such support base. Both parties may announce more candidates over the coming days.

"It is up to the two regional parties to contest the state elections. As per the rules, anyone is free to contest. But I don’t think they will have any impact on the Congress prospects. The main fight in the state is between Congress and BJP," AICC secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Kuldeep Indora told ETV Bharat.

“The SP and JD-U fielding candidates in Madhya Pradesh is just to register their presence as every regional party wants to show that it has a support base outside of its home state,” he said. The AICC functionary further said that the entry of SP and JD-U which have a strong support base in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively, in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls will have no impact on the opposition alliance INDIA.

“The INDIA alliance is only for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The regional parties fielding a few candidates in a state will not impact the national alliance,” said Indora. However, the AICC secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Shiv Bhatia said the SP and the JD-U should understand the importance of crucial elections like Madhya Pradesh.

“The Congress is doing well in Madhya Pradesh and can easily defeat the BJP in the state. The state parties will not gain anything but still they are contesting the polls. They should understand the role that Congress is playing in the state. All those who want to defeat the BJP should support the Congress," Bhatia said.

Tensions had mounted between the SP and the Congress last week over seat-sharing in Madhya Pradesh. The SP had been demanding seven seats in the Bundelkhand area but the deal was refused by Congress state unit chief Kamal Nath. This led to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav charging that had he known that the INDIA alliance was not for state polls, he would not have sent his representatives to discuss seat sharing with Kamal Nath.

The Congress first debunked Akhilesh Yadav’s claim but later Kamal Nath acknowledged that seat-sharing talks did take place between the two parties but he was unable to convince the local Congress leaders to part with some of the seats desired by the SP.

The matter was later resolved peacefully, claimed AICC functionaries, pointing out that the Congress was ignoring another INDIA partner AAP fielding candidates in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and this would in no way impact the INDIA alliance seat-sharing for the 2024 parliamentary elections.