The Congress’ decision to not contest by-polls for any of the nine Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats next month – instead leaving them to the Samajwadi Party, to maximise a faltering INDIA bloc’s chance of victory – has drawn jibes and proclamations of the alliance’s break-up from the ruling BJP.
The BJP’s state unit spokesperson, Rakesh Tripathi, claimed the Samajwadi Party had extracted “revenge” for the Madhya Pradesh and Haryana elections, in which the Congress had snubbed its ally’s request for seat-sharing; the Congress was eventually thumped by the BJP in both states.
Tripathi also threw out a wrestling reference, declaring the Congress had been ‘thrown and pinned to the mat’. “The INDI Alliance has been broken into pieces,” the BJP leader claimed, “The SP is making the BJP’s ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ (an India free of the Congress) slogan a reality.”
SP-Congress Alliance vs BJP
Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday confirmed the SP would field candidates for all nine seats and that they would contest on his party’s symbol, but as INDIA bloc leaders.
Mr Yadav – reportedly left miffed after the Congress rejected seat-share request for last year’s Madhya Pradesh election and again in Haryana this month – announced the deal in a post that featured (for added emphasis) a picture of Rahul Gandhi and himself together with hands raised in victory.
“We have decided to save the Constitution… reservation… and harmony. We have decided to build the country as dreamed of by Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) – Babasaheb (Ambedkar) – Lohia (Ram Manohar, an iconic freedom fighter and socialist political leader),” Akhilesh Yadav declared.
The SP leader stressed the alliance was not based on seat-sharing math but on the imperative to eat into the BJP’s sizeable lead in the UP Assembly. “With this unprecedented cooperation, every worker of the INDIA bloc is filled with new energy and the resolve to win all nine Assembly seats” he said.
News of the Congress-SP alliance followed a brief squabble between the two parties; the Congress reportedly wanted to contest at least five seats, but the SP was reluctant to give up more than two, given its ally’s poor performance in the most recent Assembly and federal elections in the state.
In the 2022 Assembly election the BJP won 255 seats and the Samajwadi Party 111.
The Congress won just two – Rampur Khas and Pharenda.
The SP also ‘won’ the April-June Lok Sabha election in the state, picking up 37 seats to the BJP’s 33 and the Congress’ six, which included reclaiming the family stronghold of Amethi from Smriti Irani.
The Congress’ hand was further weakened after the Haryana and J&K election results, which saw the party criticised by INDIA partners for failing to work with the SP in the former – Akhilesh Yadav’s SP then named candidates for six seats, effectively denying the Congress its demand of five.
‘Symbol Not Important’: Congress
From the Congress’ camp, state leader Surendra Rajput told news agency ANI the decision was based on the imperative to defeat the BJP as the INDIA bloc and not which party would field candidates.
“INDIA is contesting all 9 seats. For us the symbol is not important… for us the end of the BJP’s misgovernance is important. It is important that there be security and peace…” he said.
There was also a reference to Akhilesh Yadav’s “big-heartedness in Haryana” – a reference to the SP leader not, publicly at least, pushing for a seat-share deal in the election in the heartland state.
Mr Yadav rounded out the joint appeal by referring to his party’s strength having increased “manifold with support of the Congress’ top leadership and booth-level workers”.
Voting will be held on November 13 and results will be announced November 23.
A by-poll for a tenth seat – Milkipur in Ayodhya district – will take place later.
