By Faraz Ahmad
New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) The rise and rise of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is forcing the Congress and the Samajwadi Party to work towards an understanding, albeit hesitatingly and with one condition – no Amar Singh please.
Saleem Sherwani, a former central minister and Samajwadi Party MP, and Naresh Aggarwal, another party leader and former state minister, have had a series of meetings with some top Congress leaders. They have also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at least once to work out an understanding between the two parties, both at the national level and in Uttar Pradesh.
“Even ministries (allocations) were discussed. But Gandhi insisted on keeping Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Amar Singh out of the picture as a precondition for any open alliance or even a tacit understanding between the two parties,” said an informed source.
The proposal was discussed at the SP national executive meet last month. But Amar Singh’s supporters reportedly opposed the idea and protested loudly at the gumption of the Congress president to suggest organisational changes in another party.
Confirming the talks between the two sides, a Samajwadi Party MP told IANS: “The political scenario has undergone a considerable change after the Gujarat election outcome. The Congress was earlier certain of winning in Gujarat. It looked certain that it would retain power at the national level in next elections too.”
But after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thrashed the Congress in Gujarat, the possibility of the NDA (BJP-led National Democratic Alliance) returning to power under L.K. Advani could not be ruled out, he said.
“It seems in the current situation the BJP may get around 160 seats (in parliament) in the next elections and the Congress may get less than 100 seats. In that case, many parties, even perhaps the Telugu Desam Party, will flock back to the BJP,” said the MP, not wishing to be named.
Sounding a dissenting note, the SP member of parliament added: “Why should we tie ourselves in any alliance now? We will wait till the 2009 general election and decide only then, depending on the political situation at that time.”
Congress sources, however, pointed out that the SP still had reasons to align with the party that leads the ruling coalition in New Delhi.
“Samajwadi Party leaders are facing trouble from the Mayawati regime and if their party were in power in Delhi that would provide them protection,” said a Congress leader.
He recalled how DMK leaders enjoyed a reprieve as central ministers in the NDA government while their archrival J. Jayalalitha was Tamil Nadu chief minister. Also, how Lalu Prasad, being railway minister, is shielded from any vendetta by Bihar’s Nitish Kumar government.
A former Uttar Pradesh state Congress president told IANS: “It (political understanding between the two parties) helps both. The Samajwadi Party faces threat from Mayawati and being in the government in Delhi will help them in Lucknow.
“We too have our compulsions. We have to decide well in advance before the next general election whom to align with.”
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) defeated the SP led by Mulayam Singh Yadav in the May 2007 assembly elections.
While Mayawati supported the UPA in the presidential elections last year, she has often trained her guns at the Congress that has been out of power for nearly two decades in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous and thus very politically significant.