COLUMN: BJP, SP throw alliance taunts at BSP

Both parties could be trying to send a message to BSP supporters that their party was not in a position to form a government on its own, says Ratan Mani Lal

At the end of the second round of polling in Uttar Pradesh assembly election, a change seems to have crept into the campaign content of all three major contenders, which could be an indicator of the internal, confidential assessment of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the coalition comprising the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Congress.

While the Congress and the SP continue to be the prime targets for the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BSP appears to have been turned into the object of a possible coalition by both the BJP and the SP. While the SP hints that the BSP could have a post-election tie-up with the BJP (since it had already done so in the past), the BJP is equally prompt in cautioning the SP that the Congress was keeping the option of allying with the BSP if the need arose.

Both parties could be trying to send a message to BSP supporters that their party was not in a position to form a government on its own. This has forced BSP chief Mayawati to clarify that her party will not ally with the BJP if her party failed to notch up the numbers required to form a government on its own. But significantly, there has been no such categorical denial of any possible alliance with the Congress. In fact, during his speech at a huge gathering in Kannauj on February 15, Modi said the Congress was running a 'three-legged race' with one leg tied to the SP and the other to the BSP.

[COLUMN: The Lone Ranger from badlands of western UP]

To support this, he recalled the first press conference Utar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh and Congress vice president Rahul had addressed after their alliance, where Akhilesh had attacked Mayawati but Rahul had preferred to express his 'great respect' for Mayawati.

Curiously, Akhilesh keeps on attacking the BSP and Mayawati by referring to her as bua (father's sister) and her government as pattharon ki sarkar (referring to the stone monuments she has built). He said at a rally that voters should not trust the BSP as it might join hands with the BJP after the election result. He referred to earlier BSP-BJP governments formed in the state.

On the contrary, in his speeches elsewhere, Rahul has not mentioned Mayawati even once, reserving his attack for Modi and BJP alone.

The two rounds of voting held on February 11 and 15 have taken care of 140 seats spread across 26 districts in western region of the state, and the polling in both rounds has touched an extraordinary high level -- crossing 70 per cent in some instances and averaging above 66 per cent. While the heavy turnout of voters indicates a possible desire to give a decisive verdict, it has alerted the three parties as to their calculations of a sweep in their respective favour.

While all the three parties have publicly expressed the confidence that the heavy turnout meant overwhelming support for them, conventional wisdom in each party agrees that the turnout indicates a desire for change.

Incidentally, the BJP now seems to agree that the contest in UP is not a direct one with the SP-Congress, but the BSP too is a serious contender, as was mentioned by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Lucknow a couple of days ago that the contest in the state was 'triangular'.

The admission that the BSP could be a spoiler in their plans, means that the BJP and the SP could step up their efforts to paint the BSP as a would-be partner of the rival party. Could it be that Rahul had realised this even before the first round of voting?

OneIndia News