The confusion over who would get the SP symbol of `cycle’ or will it be frozen for the time being, has delayed the announcement of the pre-poll pact between Congress and Samajawadi Party.
The two parties are ready with the blueprint and were likely to reveal their master plan for the coming Assembly polls, once the Election Commission pronounced it’s decision over the SP symbol.
Interestingly, this if first time that Priyanka Gandhi is actively taking interest in UP politics and playing a key role in thrashing out an alliance for gaining power in the state.
Sources confirmed that an understanding between the two parties has been reached as Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav initiated on herhusband’s behalf. It is being said that both Priyanka and Dimple are set to major roles in facilitating the alliance to get a majority.
Sources in the Congress and also in SP confirmed that a truck between Akhilesh-led faction of SP and Congress has already been worked out. A key aspect of this tie-up could well be the enhanced participation of the CM’s wife Dimple Yadav and Congress’s star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi.
Both are not new to electoral politics. Dimple is a lawmaker from Kannauj and Priyanka has been the campaign in-charge for her mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul. However, it would be a bigger and more intense role for both in the upcoming polls.
As per the formula reached, the SP will leave 112 seats for other coalition partners in which a lion’s share of 90 will go to the Congress while the rest will be distributed among others including Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD).
Though some leaders and candidates of Congress were opposed to the announcement before Makar Sankranti, others said that very less time was left for the first phase of poll as the notification would be issued on January 17.
Nomination for the first phase of polling in 73 assembly segment of western UP will start after the notification on January 17.
The Congress has already completed the formality of selecting panel of 2 to 5 candidates for all 403 Assembly segments except for 20 seats where they have sitting members. Both parties are keen to keep the Muslim votebank intact at any cost to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sources said that the decision to rope in Dimple Yadav and Priyanka for campaigning has larger political connotations. Priyanka has star value and is known for her sharp political sense and ability to connect with voters. The Congress has been urging her for a larger role in politics butshe has chosen to limit herself to family bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi so for. On the other hand, Dimple Yadav comes across less politically aggressive and fits the portrait of an ideal wife and `bahu’ in Indian politics. She has been content with occupying the back seat, someone for whom politics may be a task at hand but family remains a priority. It is this persona which many believe attracts voters, especially women.
During 2014 lok Sabha poll, she had taken time out to venture out of her constituency to campaign for a few other seats. This time, it’s different. With her husband embroiled in a power struggle with father Mulayam weeks before polls, it will be a challenge to build the momentum.
The two women leaders are supposed to shoulder the burden of electoral campaign this time around.