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SP names 22 more candidates, may go solo as gulf with Cong widens
Congress and SP are two major partners of the INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh, and any misunderstanding between them is bound to have an effect on the politically sensitive state that sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha
LUCKNOW In an apparent sign of a widening gulf with its INDIA bloc partner, the Congress, in Madhya Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday named candidates for 22 more assembly seats in that state, taking the total to 31 for the 230-member MP assembly for which a single-phase poll will be held on November 17.
The SP had announced nine candidates earlier and its senior leaders said more may be named by Thursday.
Vyasji Gond, the SP’s Madhya Pradesh poll in-charge and national executive member, said, “Roughly, 50 candidates could be declared by tomorrow. We might even declare candidates on all the 230 seats. The party outfit in MP is prepared. There is lot of time as nominations will close on October 30.”
The Congress and the SP are the two major partners of the INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh and any misunderstanding between the two parties is bound to have a fallout in the politically sensitive state that sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha.
“Yes, the SP wanted an electoral understanding with the Congress on some (five to six) seats in Madhya Pradesh. But the Congress has not even given the lone seat that the SP had won in the assembly elections earlier,” senior Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary said.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday took strong exception to the Congress’s indifference towards the SP and asked the Congress leadership to clarify whether the opposition parties’ alliance was at the national or state level.
“If the alliance is not at the national level, it would not be at the state level in future. The SP will contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats (in Uttar Pradesh) with full responsibility,” said Yadav while speaking to media persons in Kanpur on Tuesday.
This was Yadav’s first such observation with respect to the Congress after formation of the INDIA alliance. Yadav had openly hailed the grand alliance, declared that a united opposition would defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. The SP may consider changing its stance on the issue following the Congress’s refusal to accommodate it in Madhya Pradesh.
Those aware of the developments said the SP leaders feel that the Congress is an important player of the INDIA alliance.
SP spokesperson Udaivir Singh said his party wanted the INDIA alliance, particularly the Congress, to work out a policy or formula with details of understanding at the national and state level. He also said the alliance has to be ideological and should have a uniform policy.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Rai countered this, saying the SP has no support base in Madhya Pradesh. He said the SP’s only MLA in Madhya Pradesh had joined the BJP. He also said an electoral understanding would be reached once discussions are held between the two parties at the national level.
Reacting to the development, BJP leader and minister for industrial development Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, in a tweet in Hindi, said, “Selfishness and lust for power is the foundation of the opportunistic alliance. Now the knots of this ‘thugbandhan’ have started unraveling! They have neither leadership, nor policy nor intention to serve the public! In their desperation to gain power, mutual squabbling has exposed their reality! The public is seeing and understanding everything!”
