New Delhi: The Congress is trying to deal with the Uttar Pradesh challenge where the state unit wants a poll pact with the BSP ahead of the 2024 general elections, but old ally SP is not happy with the idea. “It will be very good if the entire opposition can come under a single umbrella of the INDIA alliance to defeat the BJP in the state. However, as far as the INDIA alliance is concerned the final decision on alliance will be taken by the high command,” AICC secretary in-charge of UP Pradeep Narwal told ETV Bharat.
The suggestion to rope in BSP chief Mayawati had come from the state leaders when Rahul and Priyanka chaired a meeting to review Lok Sabha poll preparations in Uttar Pradesh on December 18. The next day, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav sought clarification over the issue from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge during the fourth INDIA alliance meeting on December 19.
Expressing his concern, Yadav reportedly said that BSP was not a reliable player and it would be a mistake to rope the regional party into the opposition alliance. Therein lies the challenge for the Congress strategists to convince both the UP players to stay together in the opposition alliance if somehow Mayawati decided to change her views.
On her part, Mayawati, a four-term Chief Minister, had been maintaining for a while that the BSP would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on its own and would not join either the INDIA alliance or the NDA grouping. However, soon after the INDIA alliance meeting, Mayawati issued a statement suggesting the SP should refrain from making comments on parties that were not part of the opposition alliance as it was not known when someone’s support might be needed and the situation could then become awkward. She also criticised the suspension of around 150 MPs during the recently concluded winter session of Parliament.
The slight change in the tone of the BSP chief sounded like music to the ears of the UP Congresspersons. “The SP had an alliance with the BSP in the 2019 national elections to take on the BJP. Strangely, the SP is now opposed to having a truck with the BSP to defeat the BJP,” former UP Congress chief Brijlal Khabri said.
Khabri, who shifted to the Congress from the BSP, said there was a lot of scope for the Congress to either align with the BSP or try to get the regional party’s vote bank. He said the Congress had been working on a plan and the induction of ex-BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Nakul Dubey and Imran Masood over the past months were pointers towards that goal.
“The ongoing UP Jodo Yatra is an attempt to strengthen the party in the western parts where the BSP also had an influence earlier,” said a senior AICC functionary. The five-member Congress panel to discuss the 2024 alliances met for the first time on Saturday and decided to hold consultations with the respective state in charge to get a perspective on seat-sharing. Naturally, dealing with the UP situation would not be easy for the panel, said party insiders.
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