As the talks of Congress party with Mayawati are hitting a roadblock, Secretary General of Samajwadi Party and cousin of ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav wants to bring the Bahujan Samaj Party into the I.N.D.I Alliance. Ram Gopal Yadav is trying to bring Mayawati into the opposition bloc, sources said.
Ram Gopal Yadav is trying to make SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP leadership realise about the need of stitching up an inclusive alliance against the BJP, say sources. The party insiders believe that if the Lok Sabha elections happen to be triangular in Uttar Pradesh, it would not only damage the prospects of non-BJP parties but also weaken them for the elections to come. Thereby, “alliance with Mayawati is imperative,” a Congress leader said. Top sources within the SP claim Mayawati has not shown much interest to join the alliance. However, there are high hopes within the Congress that eventually she will turn up in favour of the anti-BJP alliance.
An MP said to The Sunday Guardian, “Mayawati has so many times come out in open and refused to be part of any Congress-led opposition alliance but still some experts say that she may be a part of the alliance. However some other analysts are of the opinion that she is under a lot of pressure and will have to think a thousand times before she can enter any pact with Congress or SP.
He added, “Earlier, before the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, there was a stir among Muslims as they wanted to side with Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. But as the Congress party lost the elections in all the three states of the Hindi heartland, and now Muslims are inclining towards the Samajwadi Party again. Muslims collectively want an alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party at least. Moreover, if the alliance is fixed to its full potential and seat sharing is clarified as soon as possible, we will have an edge on several of seats and could also pose a threat on the seats which BJP think they can win.”
Akhilesh Yadav, has not, in the past, been a hard bargainer while negotiating for seats, while BSP chief Mayawati has been a hard bargainer and has left no stones unturned to get as many seats as possible in past alliances. A political analyst said, “Currently, the issue the alliance could be facing is that on how many seats Mayawati will agree.
She is a hard bargainer without any doubt and will try to seek as many seats as possible for her party. Akhilesh will also play it hard this time and would not give away many seats. He would not want to repeat his past mistakes of giving too many seats to alliance partners.”