Congress cagey, but MLAs back ties with SP to boost chances

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party's offer of alliance in Uttar Pradesh has elicited support from sections of Congress, with many arguing that it would help the party shore up its performance on the weak turf. UP SP chief Shivpal Yadav's comment that talks would be held for a tieup between SP, Congress and RLD, resulted in a guarded reaction from AICC.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said, "We have seen the statement. We will react to it at an appropriate time."

It is felt that Congress does not want to short-circuit its ongoing campaign in the state by talking about an alliance, a sure recipe for speculation and distraction among district leaders engaged in the 'Rahul sandesh yatra'.

At the same time, Congress legislators from UP signalled their support for a broad alliance with RLD and SP. They were in the national capital on Wednesday for a meeting with party vicepresident Rahul Gandhi that was also attended by general secretary in-charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad and state unit chief Raj Babbar.

Sources said that, besides giving feedback on the ongoing campaign and the volatile political situation in the state, the MLAs told the leadership that a tie-up with RLD in western UP and with SP would be beneficial for Con gress. The MLAs said the offer from SP reflected a dip in its confidence owing to the infighting in the Yadav clan.They added that SP was feeling the pressure and Congress could capitalise on it.

However, these are early days, and seat-sharing would be a big challenge in any alliance talk. Congress's emaciated political muscle saddles it with a weak bargaining hand in negotia tions and the leadership would have to find the right tally to sell it to party cadres.

The party's high-voltage campaign in UP , spearheaded by Rahul, to project itself as a serious pan-state player adds to its compulsion to eke out a respectable tally of seats from prospective partners.

Sources cited it as a key reason behind Congress downplaying the alliance talk in public.