In a day or two, the two parties will begin formal talks on a possible seat sharing arrangement between them in UP.
Digvijay to initially represent party, Rahul to enter scene at a later stage
NEW DELHI: The Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) are finally getting down to business. In a day or two, the two parties will begin formal talks on a possible seat sharing arrangement between them in UP. This will be in addition to a six-member coordination committee comprising senior leaders from both the parties. This committee will oversee the new found relationship.
Digvijay Singh, the AICC general secretary in charge of UP and Rita Bahuguna, the president of its state unit, will initially represent the Congress in the seat sharing talks. Rahul Gandhi will also be expectedly involved in the talks at some stage. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and party general secretary Amar Singh are likely to represent the SP.
The Congress and SP are keen on sewing up the alliance in UP as soon as possible so that they can get down to the business of selecting their candidates and also planning their campaign to take on Mayawati. “The sooner the seat sharing arrangement is worked out the better. We can then get on with the campaign,” said Digvijay Singh.
The talks will initially focus on UP, but it is likely that the SP may also want some seats in states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The first round of talks between the two parties is likely to take place in the next few days. While senior Congress sources said the party has already short-listed around 30
Lok Sabha seats, a senior UP based party leader claimed that the party will eventually settle for anything between 22 and 25 seats. It is also likely that the two parties may settle for “friendly” contests in seats like Rampur, Pratapgarh, Farukhabad and Padrauna, where both the parties have strong claims.
Both the parties have also not given up hope of roping in the Ajit Singh-led RLD. “We would like the RLD on board,” said Digvijay Singh.
Despite the fact that the RLD chose to vote against the UPA government in the confidence vote last month, both the parties want the RLD on board as the alliance will not only have a solid pan UP presence, but will also form an impressive social base capable of taking on the BSP.
j_ansari@dnaindia.net
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