BHOPAL: Opposition Congress maintained on Thursday that it was open to alliance with like-minded opposition parties in Madhya Pradesh for the 2018 assembly polls, ultimately keeping the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in mind.
“We’ll go about for alliances with like-minded parties in 2018, keeping the 2019 polls in mind,” said MP Congress Committee president Kamal Nath on Thursday.
“Abhi hamne charcha kisi se shuroo nahi ki hai, abhi mai sabki rai le raha hoon, ki kiske saath kis tarah ka samjhauta kiya jaye. (We’re yet to begin formal discussions with any other party for possible alliance in MP. I’m still consulting everyone about what kind of alliance need to be struck with whom),” said Nath while talking to journalists in Bhopal.
While making it amply clear that Congress was open to alliance with like-minded parties, Nath said that in the 2014 elections, the BJP had secured 31 percent votes, while 69 percent remaining votes were polled were against the saffron party. “Still the BJP claimed that the public mandate was with them. We don’t want the opposition vote to be split this time, for which we’ll soon start discussions with other like-minded parties on alliance for 2018 keeping in mind the 2019 LS polls,” Nath added.
“We’re collecting information about the seats where we should go for an alliance with other parties. We need to first find out the seats where the alliance is needed and what kind of alliance is necessary, based on it we’ll discuss the issue of alliance with like-minded parties in MP,” the former union minister said.
Nath’s statements about the alliance came a day after a host of opposition parties’ leaders put up a massive show of unity at the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party had made it clear that would contest all 230 seats during the assembly polls in MP.
The Mayawati-led BSP, the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) and the SP have a significant presence in parts of the state neighbouring UP as well as Mahakaushal region of the state.
In the 2013 MP Assembly polls, the BJP had won 165 seats, followed by Congress with 58 seats and BSP with 4 seats. However, the BSP and the GGP had split the opposition vote, consequently marring Congress prospects of winning at least 30-35 more seats in Bundelkhand, Gwalior-Chambal, Vindhyan and Mahakaushal region of the state.