Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Congress puts up a brave front after SP-BSP alliance snub

AICC president Rahul Gandhi has signalled that the grand old party is willing to turn the compulsion of going it alone into an opportunity to build a strong organisation in UP

After a snub by the SP-BSP alliance, the Congress continues to put up a brave front in Uttar Pradesh by deciding to contest all the 80 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party has already announced candidates on 11 seats and is likely to release the list of remaining candidates soon. (HT)

The party has already announced candidates on 11 seats and is likely to release the list of remaining candidates soon.

The assertion of Congress president Rahul Gandhi that “the party will play on the front foot” have sent signals that the grand old party is willing to turn the compulsion of going it alone into an opportunity to build a strong organisation in UP.

Rahul’s move of appointing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jyotiraditya Scindia as general secretaries for east and west UP respectively and asking them to work for the formation of Congress government in UP in 2022 mark the beginning of the implementation of his plans.

Earlier, there was a buzz in political circles regarding the possibility of a last-minute electoral understanding between the Congress and the SP-BSP alliance but BSP president Mayawati has strongly denied the possibility of any alliance with the Congress.

The Congress leaders too had consistently denied such a possibility though Rahul’s assertions had left a room for back channel maneuvering. His party had won only two seats in 2014 polls in state and thus has nothing to lose in 2019 elections.

After announcing the appointment of Priyanka and Jyotiraditya. Rahul had said: “We respect both Mayawati ji and Akhilesh ji. They have formed their alliance. We have no enmity. We have love. We have lots of similarities in ideology and we are fighting against the BJP. We have to fight for the Congress’s ideology and we will fight with our full might in Uttar Pradesh. If they (SP-BSP) want to talk to us, we have no issues,”

His assertions sum up the situation in which the Congress finds itself after consistently being given a cold shoulder by the SP and the BSP on various occasions.

The Congress was not taken into confidence when the BSP decided to support SP candidates in the by-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats vacated by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

It was kept out of tge loop when the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) aligned for by-election to Kairana Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress, however, wants to keep the SP, BSP and other like-minded parties in good humour apprehending a fluid post-poll scenario.

A Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, said: “The Congress is not willing to give signals that it is a game spoiler after giving a call for a grand alliance to take on the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. This approach may be more helpful after the election.”

In such a scenario, the challenge of improving the Congress’ tally in 2019 Lok Sabha polls stares the party in the face. The party is obviously banking on the anti-incumbency factor against the Narendra Modi government as it raises the issues of corruption in Rafael deal, farmers’ problems, rising prices and unemployment.

It has also been making efforts to reach out to smaller allies like the little known Mahan Dal.

To make inroads into the vote banks of other parties, Congress is wooing disgruntled elements from other parties. It has been able to remain in focus by inducting sitting BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule and sitting BJP MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana. Others inducted in the Congress include former MPs and other senior leaders of both the SP and the BSP.

A division though has persisted in the party over the issue of alliance in the past. Workers have been opposing it and leaders contesting poll always favouring it. This is, however, for the first time in recent years that the Congress has been pushed into a corner.

Will the equations work for the Congress which is going without an alliance?

In 2017 assembly polls, the Congress had decided to ally with the SP contesting election on 114 of 403 assembly seats.

It secured 6.25 per cent votes and got only 7 seats. However, its vote share on seats it contested was 22.09 per cent.

Earlier in 1996, the Congress had entered into an alliance with the BSP and contested 126 out of 425 assembly seats in undivided Uttar Pradesh.

It won 33 seats and secured 8.35% of the total votes polled. Its share of votes on seats contested was 29.13%. Both the examples speak on how alliances have failed to work for the party and how it has failed to build an organisation in subsequent years.

Both the examples make a case for the Congress to go it alone in the upcoming elections.

The Congress obviously is open to take help of turncoats to keep away the crutches of alliance and stand on its own. The snub from the SP-BSP alliance may only turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the party in coming months.