Despite the sabre-rattling, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) appeared to be inching closer to reaching alliance for the Punjab polls.
The Congress announced yesterday that it would have seat adjustments with the Communist Party of India (CPI) which could be on 10 to 12 seat.
However, the party was hopeful that an alliance with the BSP would be hammered out as it was compulsion for both of them to come together. Both the parties would be forced to contest the elections alone, in the event of their failure to come together, he pointed out. Congress general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad declared: We will not sell out the Congress like in Uttar Pradesh.
More From This Section
The Congress was ready to give about 25 assembly seats to the BSP under the alliance arrangement, he said and described this as a reasonable number. We are ready to contest the Punjab polls minus Kanshi Ram. BSP chief Kanshi Ram has sought to contest 47 of the 117 assembly seats in the state, a Congress office-bearer said, disclosing that the Congress might be ready to concede 35.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party have already announced their alliance for Punjab with the BJP contesting 23 assembly seats.
Though the SADs doors are not closed for Kanshi Ram, if he severs his ties with the Congress, he is not likely to get a better political deal, the Congress leader observed.