Cong considering of allying with Shivpal

| | Lucknow
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Cong considering of allying with Shivpal

Saturday, 19 January 2019 | PNS | Lucknow

The Congress, jittery over attempts of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party to marginalise it in Uttar Pradesh and the fierce criticism of the grand old party by Mayawati, is considering the option of allying with Shivpal Singh Yadav-led Pragatisheel Samaj Party (Lohia) (PSPL).

The consensus, however, eludes the grand old party as its central leadership suspects that the PSPL is “BJP’s product”. However, the Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh are in favour of the tie-up with the PSPL.

The PSPL has conveyed its willingness in no uncertain terms for an alliance with the Congress but the grand old party remains uncertain.

“Abhi hamari baat to nahi hui hai lekin jitni bhi secular party hain, Congress bhi hai, agar Congress humse sampark karegi, humse baat karegi, toh main bilkul taiyaar hun. (I have not spoken to the Congress on alliance. If the Congress is willing then I am ready for the alliance with it),” Shivpal Yadav said. 

Shivpal had met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in September last year in Delhi.

Sources in the Congress said that several state leaders of the party had started persuading the party high command to consider the offer even as a section of Congress central leaders suspect that Shivpal is a “BJP product” to divide the Yadav votes and hence he cannot be trusted.

“Politics does not remain static,” said a senior Congress leader from UP, while calling for a political review of Shivpal Yadav’s offer.

“Yes, our party had a particular understanding with Shivpal Yadav in 2017 as we had an understanding with Akhilesh Yadav (when he and Rahul Gandhi stitched the ill-fated SP-Congress alliance). If Akhilesh can change his attitude and political approach vis-à-vis Congress now, why can’t Shivpal too change his approach?” said a Congress leader.

Congress state leaders backing the tie-up with the breakaway faction of SP claimed that the impression gaining ground in UP was of Akhilesh “bending backwards” to accommodate Mayawati-led BSP’s wishes on the contour of their alliance — something, these leaders argue, is not gelling with the reality of traditional Yadav-Dalit political rivalry in state politics.

They argue that Shivpal is trying to provide the anti-BSP Yadav section an opening to vent their anger in the Lok Sabha polls and so the Congress should make use of it, especially since Mayawati is believed to be working on a “larger anti-Congress ambition” in Delhi.

Therefore, they argue, Congress adopting a half-hearted stand in fighting the SP-BSP alliance, keeping in mind the possible requirement of post-poll alliance, would not be wise. A tie-up with outfits such as Shivpal Yadav’s PSPL could be more beneficial, they said.

A Congress leader pointed out that the Congress vote bank was such that it had much more capability to hurt the BJP than a BSP-SP combine. “The 2009 Lok Sabha results tell a story. The Congress bagged 21 seats, while the BSP tally was 20 and the SP got 23 seats. The RLD got five, while the BJP was down to 10 seats. Going by the recent pre-poll survey, 2019 has a real possibility of the BSP-SP combine repeating its 2009 performance. It is, therefore, for the Congress and the likes of PSPL to make a dent in the BJP tally.

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