The recent bonhomie between Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh and BJP leader Kalyan Singh has not gone down well with the Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh, with majority of them holding a view that it would be "humiliating and disastrous" for the party which has been left with a depleted support base in the state.
"A big faction of the party leaders in the state thinks that after the coming together of the Samajwadi Party and former BJP and Hindutva leader Kalyan Singh, Congress should refrain for any electoral alliance and instead exploit the situation to its advantage to win back the party's traditional vote bank among the Muslims," Congress sources said in Lucknow.
Muslim voters have drifted away from the party due to SP's sustained campaign over the last two decades and this is the appropriate time to win them back as the new-found alliance between Mulayam and Kalyan has caused a heartburn among the Muslims in the state, Congress leaders believe.
"How can Congress justify allying with a party which is hobnobbing with a hardcore Hindutva leader and the one responsible for Babri Mosque demolition and had even taken pride in it?" a source asked.
Also, what has soured the relationship between the Congress and the SP is the fact that the latter has announced its candidates for 50 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, without taking Congress into confidence, the sources said.
{{/usCountry}}Also, what has soured the relationship between the Congress and the SP is the fact that the latter has announced its candidates for 50 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, without taking Congress into confidence, the sources said.
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