A senior party leader said there is absolutely no possibility of alliance, particularly when "we have offered ourselves as a credible alternative and we will stick to it."
Encouraged at the response generated by his Kisan Yatra, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has asked his party leaders to convey to all party workers that there will be no tie-up or a Bihar-type grand alliance for the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections. Rahul embarked upon on the second leg of his 2,500km Kisan Yatra from Mirzapur on Wednesday after a two-day break on account of Eid.
A senior party leader said there is absolutely no possibility of alliance, particularly when "we have offered ourselves as a credible alternative and we will stick to it."
"Our key slogan is 27 saal (years), UP behaal (in distress) -- and this indicts all the three parties that have ruled the state in this period," he said. "The BJP, (Akhilesh Yadav's) Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have all been at the helm of affairs in this period of around three decades. This is a long time and the fatigue is witnessed everywhere," believes the party.
Making a difference between the party's strategies for Bihar and UP, the leader said contesting together or joining hands either with the SP or the BSP will be to the advantage of BJP in the state. "We are pinning our hopes on farmers and aspiring middle class, which had gone to the BJP kitty during last Lok Sabha polls," said the leader, adding that even if the Congress doesn't get much seats, it will definitely cut vote share of the BJP.
The Congress was initially interested in an alliance with Mayawati's BSP, but she wasn't ready to oblige. The Congress then went ahead, declaring its candidate for chief minister and fielding a robust team to battle out on the ground. If Mayawati is now impressed by the response to Rahul's Yatra, it is now too late to have any truck with her party, the Congrss leader said. While strategist Prashant Kishor has drawn up a campaign blueprint, the Congress has activated almost every significant state leader to mobilise people in their areas of influence, with the major central push coming from Rahul himself.
Multiple rallies were taken out under the leadership of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Raj Babbar and chief minister candidate Sheila Dikshit while Rahul himself took the plunge by starting on a month-long tour from September 6 that would criss-cross the state.
Some senior leaders, who had doubts about the efficacy of this strategy, now feel that going to the people had actually helped. Sources said Rahul himself had been encouraged by the response. "Rahul had got a good public response in 2012 too but the outcome was dismal. The Congress won only 28 seats," the leader admitted, but pointed out two "critical differences" this time. "One, Rahul had attracted crowds five years ago because of the novelty factor; and two, the Congress had captured the people's imagination by being in power at the Centre at that time. The crowds are coming now, when the Congress is neither in power and has no novelty."
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