The fate of the proposed pre-poll alliance between the Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party for the ensuing Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh hung precariously on the matter of a dozen-odd seats with the two sides on Saturday refusing to yield ground on their demands, engaging in some hard bargaining and expecting the other to blink first. The final outcome will be known on Sunday morning as back-channel talks continue.
The SP held the Congress’ demand for around 120 seats highly ambitious and “unreasonable” despite “not being an influential party in UP” and offered it 99 seats. Sources said while the Congress stuck to its stance, SP president and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also categorically conveyed that he would not share more than 99 seats. Sources said the Congress could eventually agree for 104 seats.
The Congress Election Committee, which met here, in the meantime is said to have readied a Plan B and finalised its list of candidates for 140 Assembly seats that go to polls in the first two phases. It is being seen both as its willingness and readiness to go solo in the event of the alliance talks failing as also a posturing tactic to force SP to yield ground.
There is also a buzz about the two parties fighting the first two phases separately even as they try to strike an alliance for the remaining five phases.
Keeping in mind the 2019 lok Sabha polls, Congress wants to contest all the nine Assembly segments in Amethi and Raebareli while the SP is willing to concede only one seat in Raebareli which was won by the Congress in the 2012 elections. The Congress is also vying for some minority dominant constituencies.
Both SP and Congress leaders said all is not over. The Congress went into a huddle on Saturday evening at the 10 Janpath residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, along with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Raj Babbar to see if the deal can still be done. Congress sources said Sonia expressed her “unhappiness over Akhilesh’s attitude” towards seat sharing given the fact he was the one who took the initiative with regard to the alliance. Sonia even intervened and spoke to Akhilesh on the phone late on Saturday night.
The Congress said it will wait till Sunday before making public its list of candidates.
SP leader Naresh Aggarwal said chances were dim for any sunshine on the alliance. “The Congress wanted 120, we gave them 100. But now it is adamant for 120 seats. Our leaders explained them that we have 234 sitting MlAs who have to be given tickets. We told them that we can’t contest in less than 300 seats but Congress was adamant as if they are a very influential party in UP,” Aggarwal said.
Riding on the confidence gained from Election Commission’s decision to give UP CM Akhilesh Yadav the legal right over party symbol ‘cycle’ and a re-energised party cadre, the SP is now willing to go alone in the state.
If the alliance talks fail, SP leaders conceded, then it will advantage BJP. However, BJP state president Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the SP-Cong alliance or no alliance will in no way impact BJP chances. Nevertheless, the BJP is waiting for the outcome of the Congress-SP talks to finalise its second list accordingly.
Congress leaders Azad and Babbar said Congress will go with full steam in the first and second phases, nominations for which end on January 24 and 27, respectively.
Congress had asked for 120 seats but was reluctant to accommodate Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD) within this quota. It said if RlD had to be part of the alliance then, SP needed to concede more seats. With both Congress and SP refusing to accommodate RlD, it is going solo. But the Samajwadi Party’s first list of candidates, including that for the Congress first family’s bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli, also had its role in the alliance being almost on the breaking point.