Prospects of a poll alliance between the ruling Samajwadi Party and Congress appeared to be brightening today with both showing inclination towards a tie-up, feeling that it will be beneficial for the two parties and would halt BJP's march.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said a tie-up between SP and Congress would fetch over 300 of the 403 Assembly seats in the upcoming elections while Congress said it is not averse to a "respectable" seat-sharing formula.
"Though samajwadis are going to form majority government in the state, if an alliance takes place, it will win over 300 seats. The final decision in this regard will be taken by SP National president (Mulayam Singh Yadav)," Akhilesh told reporters here.
Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh, while sniffing a chance because of demonetisation, are showed inclination towards an alliance, saying the party is open to a "respectable" seat-sharing formula with SP.
Accepting that there are some back channel efforts to firm up an alliance, a Congress leader said his party will not agree to less than 100 seats which it has already identified.
"Besides the 29 seats it won in the last Assembly polls and 31 others on which it had finished second, there are some 50 other constituencies where the party has good chance," he said.
The party, which has been out of power in the politically important state for 27 years, is trying its best to revive its electoral fortunes by pushing its vice president Rahul Gandhi to hold a 'kisan yatra' across the state.
"The aim and target of Congress is not just to halt BJP in Uttar Pradesh but also in the country for which it believes that all parties having similar ideology need to come together," said the leader who refused to be identified.
"Such an alliance is also in the interest of Samajwadi Party which desperately needs to secure a strong platform to ward off division of Muslim votes in order to consolidate its position," he said.
BSP is posing a stiff challenge to Samajwadi Party and is going all out to woo Muslim voters and this is a concern for SP, he noted.
Congress had launched its poll preparations much in advance, roping in election strategist Prashant Kishor and announced the name of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial candidate with an eye on Brahmin votes.
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Expecting a note-ban backlash against BJP, Congress has kept back channels open for striking a pre-poll alliance or an understanding with Samajwadi Party for next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Congress insiders said.
Desperate to be counted in the power stakes in Uttar Pradesh where it ruled 27 years back, Congress leaders might settle for anything between 60-70 seats, including the 28 sitting MLAs it has in the state Assembly, they said.
Swept away to a distant fourth position, Congress leaders feel that its chances in the crucial state had dipped after the Narendra Modi government went public with the September 29 surgical strikes inside Pak-occupied Kashmir. They, however, feel that post demonetisation the popularity of the BJP has declined.
To regain its lost ground, Congress is open to a "respectable" seat sharing formula to tie up with ruling SP for the coming Assembly polls, they said.
Though no senior Congress leader was forthcoming on the issue of alliance, the UP poll scenario was discussed threadbare at a recent high level meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka, UPCC President Raj Babbar and AICC general secretary incharge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad in Delhi.
"We had successfully tried this formula in Bihar and halted the march of the BJP...And now after the negative wave against it post demonetisation, we find such an experience could be repeated in UP," a leader said on condition of anonymity.
Another leader said, "In politics, all possibilities need to be explored.
