SP not ready to give Congress more than 2 seats in UP for 2019 polls

Lucknow: The opposition unity in the coming 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh could face a hurdle as the principal opposition Samajwadi Party has hinted that it could not accommodate Congress more than two seats in the Gandhi borough of Rae Bareli and Amethi.

The SP is not so keen to take Congress on board in UP but will not field candidates against the Gandhis in Rai Bareli and Amethi.However, the SP has said they have completed talks with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal(RLD) for the alliance in the state.

A senior SP leader told UNI here on Monday that the Samajwadi Party leadership, taking a lesson from the 2017 assembly polls when it forged an alliance with the Congress, this time was not so keen in repeating the same in 2019.

"The SP is ready for alliance with BSP as it will help the party more than if it goes with the Congress," the leader said.Besides, the Congress doesn't seem fit in the political narrative which SP president Akhilesh Yadv wants to build together with Mayawati's BSP. The new  narrative would be 85 per cent vs the 15 per cent which is the consolidation of Dalit, Backwards and Muslims against the Upper castes.

"SP sees Congress' as a upper caste party," the leader said.The 2017 experiences also showed that SP-Congress alliance was a setback because Mr Yadav's and other backward caste who generally support SP, did not vote for the Congress candidate in alliance.(UNI)