Does Akhilesh Yadav want to eliminate Congress in Uttar Pradesh? Is the Samajwadi Party chief starting to feel threatened by the Congress’s growing popularity? Does the former Uttar Pradesh CM feel that the rise of the Congress in UP will put an end to his politics? All these questions are floating in the political circles of Uttar Pradesh ever since Akhilesh Yadav said that the Indian Alliance will contest the elections for the 9 UP assembly seats under the Samajwadi Party symbol. However, in saying this, Akhilesh has used very kind language towards the Congress in his former position. But people of UP know what kind of ruckus was created in the last few days regarding seat sharing in the by-elections. Akhilesh Yadav was deliberately playing such a trick that the Congress had no option but to walk out. Many politicians consider it a move by Akhilesh Yadav that has left the Congress in trouble.
In fact, the Congress, which is becoming very strong in the country, is also making rapid inroads among its old core voters in Uttar Pradesh. It seems natural for Akhilesh to get scared after seeing even unknown Congress candidates getting huge votes in the Lok Sabha elections. In Uttar Pradesh, Congress is like a sleeping animal that if it wakes up, political parties like Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party will cease to exist.
Congress performance in UP in Lok Sabha elections
Even before the Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh Yadav had adopted the same seat-sharing strategy with the Congress as he had been doing for some time now to share seats in the assembly by-elections. Akhilesh Yadav continued to announce party candidates in their name without taking the consent of the Congress. And he proposed the name of Congress for the remaining seats. He did the same in the Lok Sabha elections. Except Amethi and Rae Bareli, no Lok Sabha seat was given to the Congress where the Congress or the Samajwadi Party was in a position to win. A total of 17 seats were thus awarded, one of which was Prime Minister Modi’s seat in Varanasi, from where defeat was already certain.
However, Congress won 6 seats and lost 6 seats by a very small margin. In Bansgaon, Congress candidate Sadal Prasad’s victory was limited to just 3,150 votes. Thus, Congress’ performance in 12 out of a total of 17 seats was very good. Smriti Irani lost in Amethi by a huge margin of around 167,000 votes. This defeat was not like that. This simply meant that the Congress had obtained votes from all sections. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi also defeated UP government minister Dinesh Pratap Singh from Rae Bareli by around 290,000 votes. The Congress victory in Sitapur, Barabanki, Saharanpur and Prayagraj was spectacular. Not even Akhilesh and Rahul Gandhi knew that the Congress would achieve such success. Compared to 2014 and 2019, Congress’ vote share was also better in UP.
SP and Congress have the same product and the same customers.
It is obvious that Akhilesh Yadav must have realized that if Congress’s roots in UP are not cut, then it will be able to establish its position again. It is natural for them to think like this because the ground on which the Samajwadi Party stands today in UP has been snatched from the Congress. Earlier, the Congress used to keep Muslim and Dalit votes aside while talking about secularism, but since the 90s, under the garb of secularism itself, the SP has created an equation between Muslims and backward classes. The Lok Sabha elections showed that Dalit and Muslim voters are again moving towards the Congress. These comments must have reached Akhilesh Yadav too. In the PDA that Akhilesh talks about, would you still see Dalits and minorities coming into the lap of the Congress? Only one can fly the flag of secularism in UP. Currently the command is in the hands of Akhilesh. Even if he is considered the flag bearer of the Indian alliance.
Why does it seem like Akhilesh did all this deliberately?
If Akhilesh Yadav had wanted to give some seats to the Congress, he would not have done so by declaring his candidates in the seats already won. If his intentions were clear, he would not have announced his candidates for any seats without talking to Congress. The Congress is not such a small party that it should be treated in this unprofessional manner. The Congress has its own vote bank from which Akhilesh Yadav would also benefit. But today Akhilesh Yadav would want that even if his candidates don’t win, Congress candidates also don’t win. He had vacated the Ghaziabad and Khair seats to give them to the Congress. Everyone who understands Uttar Pradesh politics knows that not only the Congress but even the Samajwadi Party could not win these two seats. Akhilesh should have offered at least one winning seat along with two losing seats. But if the Congress had no intention of expanding its presence in UP, how could it have happened?
Does Congress also want to show a mirror to Akhilesh?
There is also speculation that the Congress has deliberately given up seats in the by-elections. Actually, the Congress wants Akhilesh Yadav too to be shown the mirror. This was actually necessary to check Akhilesh Yadav’s escape. If the Congress does not support Akhilesh Yadav in the by-elections, it may prove detrimental to the Samajwadi Party. If the Congress had shown a little more courage and fielded its candidates, Akhilesh Yadav would have known the strength of his party. In fact, the Congress also contributed to the Dalit votes that the Samajwadi Party got in the Lok Sabha elections. Both Dalits and Muslims are returning to Congress from their parent party. If Congress candidates also contest against the Samajwadi Party, then more than half of the votes of Muslims and Dalits will go to the Congress. This is what worries Akhilesh.
