On a day when BJP president Nitin Nabin toured western Uttar Pradesh to firm up the party's poll strategy, two prominent opposition voices from the region sparred over which leader brings more value to the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.
Samajwadi Party MP from Kairana Iqra Hasan and Congress MP from Saharanpur Imran Masood, both elected in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as part of the SP-Congress alliance, publicly pitched their respective party leaders as the key opposition face against the BJP.
"Only Rahul Gandhi is the opposition voice across the country, which unnerves the BJP. Rahul ji has done the hard work and created a favourable atmosphere. So make no mistake, nothing is possible without Rahul ji, and no one should have any doubts about this," Masood told PTI.
The Congress MP, who was earlier with the SP, has repeatedly called for an early decision on seat-sharing and described the Congress as the "big brother" in the alliance.
SP leaders, however, have maintained that Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav would decide the alliance's contours.
On Tuesday, Hasan pitched SP chief Yadav as the key to the alliance's prospects. "Only Akhilesh Yadav is capable of defeating the BJP. On its own, the Congress won't be able to achieve much," she said.
The contrasting assertions come despite repeated statements by senior leaders of both parties about maintaining unity, suggesting differences in messaging among local leaders and alliance cadres.
The SP and Congress contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together in Uttar Pradesh and won 43 seats between them, with the SP winning 37 and the Congress six. The alliance also won the Faizabad seat, which includes Ayodhya, where the BJP had won in 2019.
Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said his party was open to an alliance with parties seeking to prevent the BJP from returning to power in Uttar Pradesh.
"We also do not want the BJP government to be formed in UP for the third time. If you want to stop the BJP from forming the government again, come and join hands with AIMIM," he said at a public meeting in Kanpur Sunday.
Owaisi also said AIMIM would wait until October 2 before announcing its alliance, if any, adding another element to the evolving picture of opposition alliances in Uttar Pradesh.
(With inputs from PTI)
