As talks between the two parties on UP elections hit a roadblock, Sonia steps in to save the alliance
The discussions between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress in Uttar Pradesh over seat-sharing seem to have hit a wall on Saturday. Talks are still continuing and sources said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has stepped in to try and save the alliance.
Earlier in the day, Sonia sent her trusted emissary and the party's in-charge of UP affairs, Ghulam Nabi Azad, to Lucknow where he met SP president Akhilesh Yadav with party colleague Prashant Kishor.
The two reminded Akhilesh that when he was close to splitting the party, he himself had offered the Congress 140 seats. Playing hardball, the Congress insisted on 110.
However, Akhilesh offered 99 seats to the Congress, saying it was the best he could make. The SP pointed out that in 2012, there were only about 50 seats where Congress candidates performed better than theirs.
The thorny issue is that the SP has declared contenders for nine seats currently held by the Congress, and has indicated that of the 10 constituencies in Raebareli and Amethi, it will not surrender any of the seven seats it hold. This is a major issue for the Congress, since these are the parliamentary constituencies of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Congress sources had earlier stated during the day that though the party is still hopeful of an alliance, it is keeping a contingency plan that it will contest alone. The Congress's central election committee met and finalised the names of candidates for the first two phases of the elections on February 11 and 15. Party leaders said this was to avoid any "last-minute hurry" in case the tie-up does not happen.
A senior leader had then said that the Congress president has directed them to contest all seats, in case the alliance doesn't work, and go public with the message that it is the Congress alone that can stop the BJP. Yet, Sonia's intervention late in the evening suggests that the focus is very much on saving the alliance, rather than going it alone.
Another point to note was that at the day-long meeting at 10 Janpath, the party has finalised 140 candidates but chose not to announce the list.
Azad kept the window open and indicated that back channel talks would continue. "You will get to know by Sunday. And there is still time left for the withdrawal of nominations (January 24)," he said.
Rahul Gandhi reportedly conveyed the apprehension of his party leaders to Akhilesh that the SP went back on the deal because Prime Minister Modi instilled fear among its leaders, particularly Akhilesh's uncle Ramgopal Yadav, that all family members would be in jail on the basis of a diary of a jailed engineer, also a Yadav, from Noida.
Congress sources said that the ball is now in Akhilesh's court to undo the damage already done by his party by unilaterally declaring its candidates. They added that the Congress leadership was shocked when SP vice-president Kironmoy Nanda released his party candidates' list and claimed that the Congress walked out when it was offered 103 seats.
The Congress almost decided to call off any attempt to revive the alliance after Nanda's Friday night comment that the Congress can be given only 54 seats.
Rahul was preparing the party to contest all 403 seats, but he reconciled when Azad, sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders argued that this would divide secular votes. He conveyed to Akhilesh that the SP would be helping the BJP by breaking the alliance.
Congress sources said that with three days still to go for nominations for the first phase and seven days left for nominations for the second phase of polls on February 15, there was still time left to reconcile the Congress' list with that of the Samajwadi Party.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Rahul-Sonia-Ghulam")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}