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Debjit Mukherjee: The INDIA alliance was left on shaky grounds this week as the Samajwadi Party failed to reach a seat sharing agreement in Madhya Pradesh. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has dubbed the Congress stance a ‘betrayal’ and hinted at similar treatment towards the other party in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile BJP leaders asserted that the spat had shown the ‘real character of Congress’.
“If Congress didn’t want to give seats (in MP), then they should have said it before. Today, SP is fighting only on seats where it has its own organisation. Now after Madhya Pradesh, I know that the INDIA alliance is for the (parliamentary) elections at the national level. If Congress continues to behave like this, then who will stand with them? If we will fight against the BJP with confusion in our minds, then we won’t succeed,” Yadav said on Friday.
Congress UP unit chief Ajay Rai had earlier asked the SP to withdraw from MP in favour of the grand old party as the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, he said, did not have any base there.
The SP chief said that despite the INDIA alliance formation, the SP strategy would be based on working for the PDA (Pichada, Dalit and Alpsankhyak).
Meanwhile Congress leader Kamal Nath ruffled fresh feathers after avoiding questions on the matter and asking reporters to ‘forget about Akhilesh Yadav’.
“Are bhai chhodo Akhilesh Vakhilesh…The environment is very good. People are calling us and telling us that there is enthusiasm amongst the people. We will win with an even better number than we had expected,” he told reporters in Chhindwara.
“When elections are held, tussle over tickets is a natural thing. Everyone feels that the ticket should be given to the strongest contestant. I think Akhilesh Yadav is one of the most important parts of the INDIA alliance and many from our party are in touch with him, there is nothing which cannot solved after having a discussion on it…” added Congress leader Supriya Shrinate.
