They may be claiming that they are fighting 2019 Lok Sabha elections in pursuit of a common goal to uproot the BJP but the first lists of Congress and SP candidates expose the divide between SP-BSP alliance and the grand old party.
Badaun, in Rohilkhand region of western UP, has been the traditional seat of Samajwadis for the last two decades across six elections including a by-poll. Currently, it is held by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s first cousin Dharmendra Yadav who has been representing the seat in Lok Sabha since 2009. Dharmendra has been given the ticket from Badaun by the SP yet again.
On the other side, as per the first list of 11 Congress candidates declared so far, former MP Salim Iqbal Sherwani has been handed over the baton to fight Dharmendra. Notably, Sherwani too enjoys respectable clout in Baduan which he represented in Lok Sabha from 1996 to 2004 as SP MP. In 2009, when the then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav took the seat in family fold and brought Dharmendra to the scene in Badaun, Sherwani switched sides to Congress.
In 2009 LS polls, Sherwani challenged Dharmendra on Congress ticket from the constituency but was relegated to number three position securing 2.33 lakh votes. In 2014, Congress fielded him from adjacent Aonla where he stood fourth with 93,861 votes.
The announcement of Sherwani’s candidature against the SP big wig has created a flutter in the SP camp. The common refrain emerging from SP is about the alleged ‘insensitive attitude’ of Congress party while fielding candidates. “We had been toeing a conciliatory line leaving two seats for the Congress even without being asked for them. They are not reciprocating in the same way. It has been evident in Badaun where Congress is open up a tough battle and division of non-BJP votes,” says a very senior SP leader on the condition of anonymity. He, however, adds with a conviction that this may make the Samajwadi leadership to revisit their strategy over Amethi and Rae Bareli.
“Our alliance with Congress is not beyond Amethi and Rae Bareli, so both of us will field candidates elsewhere. There is no question of going back on the declared seats,” says SP vice-president Kironmoy Nanda.
The political pundits believe that the Congress decision of fielding strong candidates even on the family seats of SP with no sense of reciprocating SP-BSP alliance’s approach on Amethi and Rae Bareli, could have two connotations – either it could be Congress’s feeler to SP to come to the negotiating table and seal a formal pact with the grand old party giving it its due respect or it could be a stern message to the SP that the time for any alliance talk was over.
The Congress leadership in UP has been sulking over Akhilesh’s claim that the party is part of SP-BSP alliance as it has been given Amethi and Rae Bareli. “If there is an alliance it should have been declared the way it was announced with BSP and RLD. We are not on anyone’s mercy. We are capable enough of putting a formidable fight on our own and we are prepared for it,” says a senior Congress leader not wanting to be named.
In fact, Sherwani has been felicitated by Congress high command for roping little-known regional party Mahan Dal into the party’s fold recently. Mahan Dal is believed to have some following among the OBCs, a traditional vote bank of SP.
“Sherwani’s candidature may also dent the OBC vote bank of SP to some extent,” says AK Mishra, a political scientist.
However, reiterating the ‘respectability’ factor, Sherwani from Badaun says it cannot be so that two seats are left for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Congress becomes part of the SP-BSP alliance.
“Even though SP-BSP has entered into an alliance, it is yet to be accepted by the ranks at the grass root. Congress will stress the point of stability and convince the voter that only a national party like Congress can be a viable option for the BJP,” says Sherwani.