Cong asks Ajit to avoid alliance decision till month end
Thursday, October 09, 2008 19:35 [IST]
New Delhi: Fearing that its prolonged talks with the Samajwadi Party on seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh may lead to the loss of its smaller allies, Congress has asked RLDs Ajit Singh to wait till this month end before taking a final decision on which way he would go in the state.
As Ajit Singh is in talks with both BJP and Congress to arrive at a seat-sharing agreement for Western UP where he wields influence in 27 seats of the Jat belt, Congress fears that its prolonged talks with SP may force the RLD leader to side with the BJP.
"He (Ajit) has been requested against taking a final call on allying with any of the parties for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh," a senior UP Congress leader said.
Though averse to allying with Ajit Singhs party until recently, SP was forced to reconsider its decision after an internal assessment.
SP now feels that Ajits presence would suit the partys prospects in the state as he has a strong presence in Western UP.
Singh can damage the prospects of SP-Congress alliance if he is not taken on board, the SP leadership now claims.
While Ajit may not be able to win many seats, his strong Jat votebank can create problems for the newly formed alliance which is aiming to win 50 out of 80 seats in the most populous state of the country.
Ajit Singh has switched sides frequently in the last 10 years but this time the RLD chief is not left with many options as BSP has already announced its list for the Lok Sabha polls, leaving him without any seats.
In fact even before the SP-Congress seat sharing talks had begun, Mulayam Singh Yadav had told party workers to aim at not less than 60 seats in Lok Sabha elections. SP with 39 MPs believes that it can win 50 seats.
SP general secretary Amar Singh has said the alliance talks between the two parties would continue and reach a logical conclusion.
"There is complete coordination between both the parties and despite some small fries trying to disturb the harmony between us, talks on UP are going along well," Amar Singh had said on Wednesday.
