LUCKNOW: Amid the decision of opposition parties to pose a unified challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party’s chief strategist said that no strong opposition front is possible with Congress.
Speaking to media persons in Sitapur on Friday, SP’s Rajya Sabha member and party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle, Ram Gopal Yadav said: “Congress is the biggest party of the opposition camp. A strong opposition front is not possible without Congress being a party of it.”
Interestingly, Akhilesh, of late, has been advocating the arrangement to give the leading role to regional parties in their respective domains. He has also hinted that SP might be fielding candidates in Congress’s first family’s pockeboroughs Amethi and Rae Bareli. As part of an unwritten code, the party has not been contesting against the Gandhi family members in the past few elections. SP and Congress also had an alliance in the 2017 UP elections.
“Congress’s win in Karnataka has given it a heft to bargain for prime position in the opposition camp. Ram Gopal could be stating the obvious,” says a political commentator. “Also, while Akhilesh is known to be commenting on impulse, his uncle is more pragmatic. He has been his political advisor ever since Akhilesh became the chief minister,” he adds.