Congress, Samajwadi Party split for stronger 2019 alliance?

NEW DELHI: Ironic as it may sound, Congress has decided to part ways with Samajwadi Party for UP's urban local body elections to ensure that its alliance with the Yadav outfit remains strong for the next Lok Sabha polls. The belief in Congress is that neither of the allies can afford another big defeat after the decimation in the just concluded assembly elections at the hands of BJP.

If the two parties go into the local polls together and bite the dust again, the alliance would be finished in public perception as well as among their already demoralised cadres for future battles. In that scenario, it would be difficult to revive optimism about the prospects of a joint SP-Congress banner for the 2019 Lok Sabha contest.

However, the Congress and SP brass are clear that they have to go into the national polls together, preferably as part of a grand alliance which would also include Mayawati's BSP. Sources said this calculation has played a role in Congress's decision to fight the local polls alone. "These local polls anyway are never fought in tie-ups," a senior Congress leader said.

After the assembly no show, sources said, leaders in Congress and SP felt they should fight local polls on their own to consolidate their strength and re-engage with their workers. In-house consolidation is seen as important to get over the assembly disaster and ready the party machinery for the 2019 battle.

But instead of turning SP and Congress against the experiment, the defeat has further reinforced the need for a tie-up, with even demands that arch-rival BSP sign up too.

The "grand alliance" is seen as a must to confront the ever-strengthening BJP in the all-important Lok Sabha contest.