Congress keeps Samajwadi Party in good humour

The Congress is going out of its way to keep the Samajwadi Party in good humour. At a public meeting in Moradabad this week, in the run up to the municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi had attacked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, accusing him of being an “agent of the communal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”.

The swift reprisal that followed from the Congress camp in New Delhi surprised many. Congress’s media chief Janardhan Dwivedi publicly snubbed Alvi, forcing him to retract his statement. The Congress is keen to ensure that nothing derails its growing bonhomie with the SP. Congress sources say the party could even agree to a Samajwadi Party choice of candidate for the Vice President’s post in exchange for SP’s support for UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential election.

 

With troublesome ally, Trinamool Congress, yet again proving to be unreliable (it has declined to support its choice of candidate for the Rashtrapati Bhavan), the UPA has sought out the SP for its backing. Incidentally, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s sudden turnaround has been ascribed to an understanding arrived at between the UPA and the SP. It was Mulayam Singh Yadav who initially joined with troublesome Banerjee to announce three new names for the Presidential race, which got the UPA worried.

Without losing time, according to Congress sources, the party managed to win over Mulayam Yadav, and one of the things that could be in the offing is the Vice Presidential candidate of SP’s choice.

It was not too long ago that the signs of the growing clout of the SP within the UPA circles were evident at the third anniversary dinner, where Yadav was seated at the high table with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Soon, the Congress made way for Yadav’s “bahu” (daughter-in-law) Dimple Yadav to get the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat uncontested. The party chose not put up a candidate against her. Now, with the SP on board, the Congress prefers to keep all controversies at bay. Senior leaders say the party is eager to ensure that Mukherjee gets an overwhelming mandate, and therefore does not want to ruffle any feathers in any supporting party. For the Congress, which till the other day was attacking the SP during the UP Assembly elections, this growing closeness is indicative of the realpolitik that determines party lines now.