BJP is 'Rebecca Loos' for SP!

What do Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party and scandal-hit football star David Beckham have in common?

What do Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and scandal-hit football star David Beckham have in common?

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Both did not realise that the fun of a fling is always short-lived, two Indian newspapers commented on Monday, as they called the SP the "David Beckham of Indian politics".

But the equivalent of Rebecca Loos - the other woman in much-married Beckham's life - is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The editorials pointed out that the Samajwadi Party was in danger of losing the faith of its loyal Muslim vote-bank in the ongoing national election, due to its flirtation with BJP.

The BJP - an anathema to Muslims due to its Hindu nationalist affiliations - is the SP's nearest rival in the country's most vital political battleground of Uttar Pradesh.

"The Samajwadi Party-BJP-Muslim triangle in the state is now beginning to unfold like the David Beckham-Rebecca Loos-Posh Spice kiss-and-tell story, with the BJP confessing to an alleged closeness, the SP in hot denial and the Muslim community demanding to be convinced there is no affair at all," said The Indian Express in a news report.

The report said rumours of the Samajwadi Party-BJP clandestine affair had been doing the rounds ever since SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav was sworn in chief minister five months ago.

"Beckham responded to Loos' charges with angry denials and public displays of affection to Victoria (his wife). Similarly, the Samajwadi is now claiming that the BJP is making all this up, that there was never any intimacy and that the party loves the Muslim vote bank," said Hindustan Times.

The editorial remarked that over the last few years, the SP had moderated its hostility towards its traditional rival BJP.

"But now, the BJP sees an opportunity. All the opinion polls say that the battle for Uttar Pradesh is close with the Samajwadi and BJP running neck to neck... So, what better way for the BJP to hurt the Samajwadi Party than to reveal to the Samajwadis' Muslim support base that perhaps the Samajwadi Party is not as faithful a consort as the Muslims think?"

Doubting whether the SP could salvage itself, the editorial noted that the approach has worked for Beckham.

"Loos may create as much mischief as she wants but Victoria seems to have stuck by Beckham."