Khushi Maheshwari, Pune
In January, Trinamool Congress stalwart Mamata Banerjee announced that the TMC had no talks of teaming up with the Congress in Bengal. Stressing over the secular nature of the party, Banerjee said that she is not bothered with what will happen on a pan-India level, but in Bengal, her party would be contesting alone.
Almost a month later, a highly anticipated alliance between the Grand Old Party and the Samajwadi Party has reportedly fallen apart after a scuffle over the proportions of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. This failed alliance comes as quite a jolt for the Congress party.
Akhilesh Yadav had clearly stated that he would only join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra after reaching a consensus over the proportion of shared seats; moreover, the SP had shifted the decision-making to the Congress after offering 17 seats in closing on Monday. As per a key negotiator for the Samajwadi Party, the Grand Old Party has not reverted to the offer. Therefore, halting any further negotiations and, in turn, possibly dismantling the future of the alliance.
The Samajwadi Party supremo refused to give up three very crucial seats in the state, namely- Moradabad, Ballia, and Bijnor, to the Congress because of the party’s presence in these regions. The agreed-upon seats include significant constituencies such as Amethi, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur Sikri, Hathras, Saharanpur, Etcetera.
The first list of candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections for 16 states in Uttar Pradesh was released by the party on January 30th; on Monday, Akhilesh Yadav announced the names of an additional 11 candidates for the state. The names include Afzal Ansari, a gangster who took to politics.
The Congress party, which once reigned over the state of Uttar Pradesh, is now struggling miserably to survive. The performance of the Congress in the state has been abysmal ever since 2014, when it could only win 2 seats as opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 282 seats.