It is a dream by any stretch of imagination and even if you stretch it to the brink, it remains a dream. Talks of a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh may seem as bright as the one in Bihar, but for those familiar with ground realities in the state, the chances are remote.
The biggest stumbling blocks in forging an alliance of any kind—grand or otherwise—are the egos of the leaders of the main parties, SP and BSP. Unlike Bihar, where the Rashtriya Janata Dal had happily conceded the leadership to Nitish Kumar, the SP and BSP in Uttar Pradesh will not give up their claim to leading the alliance.
Mayawati believes that she alone can lead the alliance and so does Akhilesh Yadav.
Both, according to sources, will not accept each other’s supremacy in the alliance and that will be the first stumbling block. Mayawati, at a party meeting, has made it clear that she will take a call on the alliance at the “appropriate time” and the BSP will get the respect it deserves if the alliance materialises.
BSP sources insist that Mayawati will accept an alliance only if she is allowed to lead it.
Akhilesh Yadav, on the other hand, still believes that he is the best bet that the opposition has in UP as well as the national level. One of his aides explains, “Bhaiyya (Akhilesh) has the cleanest image among all politicians. He enjoys the support of the youth and rates high on popularity charts. In fact, he is the anti-Modi face for the 2019 polls.” The aide turns away when asked why the Samajwadi Party faced a near rout in the Assembly polls if “Bhaiyya” was so popular. Political analysts feel that the SP and BSP have spoken about their willingness to come together on one platform only because both have been decimated by the BJP in the recent Assembly elections. Both the parties are aware that if the BJP’s dream run continues in 2019, the leaders and their parties could be pushed into oblivion.
However, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has already rubbished the possibility of the alliance. “There is no need for any alliance now. We have suffered because of our alliance with the Congress,” he has said.