Akhilesh, Rahul call for crushing BJP's divisive politics

PTI

LUCKNOW

In a clear show of camaraderie and personal bonding, the scions of Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday came together to give a call for crushing the BJP’s divisive politics of anger for the progress, prosperity, peace and people of Uttar Pradesh in the Assembly elections.

In their first joint appearance after the alliance between the Congress and the SP came through after hard bargaining, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said the alliance was for three Ps ” progress, prosperity and peace ” to which SP president and U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav added the last P ” people.

Days after stitching up an electoral alliance for the high stakes Assembly polls, Mr. Gandhi arrived in Lucknow in a special plane from Delhi for the joint press meet followed by a joint road show in the State capital.

The meeting also assumes significance as this was the maiden outing of the two leaders since reaching a seat-sharing agreement for the polls, which starts from February 11.

Out of the 403 Assembly seats, the Congress will be contesting in 105 and the SP in the rest 298 seats.

With an aim to tell people that the two parties were their choice in the elections, Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Yadav launched the poll campaign with a tag line ” ‘U.P. ko ye saath pasand hai’ (U.P. relishes this alliance).

The refrain of the duo at the crowded press conference was to send out a strong message to party cadre from both sides to work together to ensure the defeat of the saffron party.

To a question on Ram Temple, Mr. Gandhi said since it was a sub judice matter, he would not comment on it.

He said the BJP rakes up the issue during every election.

His reply came to a question on the BJP’s manifesto which says efforts would be made to get Ram temple built in Ayodhya within the law.

Terming themselves as two wheels of a bicycle, Mr. Yadav said, “There is not much difference in ages between us and today is the beginning.”

“Rahul and I will take the State ahead on the path of prosperity,” he said at the hour-long press conference.

The Congress leader said partnership between the Congress and the SP is an answer to the BJP’s divisive politics of anger.

“The alliance is the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna out of which the Saraswati of development will come out... We have similarities and opposition too. We want to contest the elections on similarities and will also have to do some compromises...,” Mr. Gandhi chipped in.

Mr. Gandhi played down certain unresolved issues like who will contest how many seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the stronghold of his party, terming them as peripheral issues.

“This is a historic alliance...all leaders are working together for a goal which is to defeat fascist forces, RSS, BJP...” Mr. Gandhi noted

“Alliance for Lok Sabha polls is open for discussion,” Gandhi said to a question as to whether he will be the PM face in 2019 elections as Akhilesh is the CM face in 2017 polls.

Mr. Gandhi, who took most of the questions, was also clear that though he admits the BSP government did commit mistakes, but his respect for Mayawati and Kanshi Ram was intact and there can be no comparison between Ms. Mayawati and the BJP.

“I respect Mayawatiji personally and Kanshi Ramji. BSP ran government and committed mistakes but the respect is intact... There is a lot of difference between BJP and BSP. BJP’s ideology is harmful to country but Mayawati’s ideology is not. Do not compare Mayawatiji with RSS,” he stressed.

Asked if the BSP could also be taken along in the alliance against the BJP, Mr. Yadav made a light-hearted comment, saying Ms. Mayawati whose symbol is elephant will require a lot of space.

To a question on the Congress’ earlier foray with the BSP in the 1996 Assembly polls, Mr. Gandhi said “History is not static and keeps changing and saying that alliance in 1996 with BSP was wrong and so it will be wrong this time too...situation is different now and it is right strategically for the State, the country as well as for Samajwadis.”

To a specific question as to whether Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Mulayam Singh Yadav will take part in electioneering, Mr. Gandhi said “We will want all those who support our ideology to come with us,” declining to divulge the campaign strategy.

When it was pointed out that the campaign launched by the Congress earlier carried the slogan ‘27 saal, UP behal’ which was also against the SP, Mr. Gandhi remarked “I had said Akhilesh is a good boy, but he wasn’t allowed to work...his intentions have been good and we support that intention to transform the State.”

“We want to stop the aggression that RSS-BJP is spreading and the false promises they are making,” Mr. Gandhi said, adding, “We want to give the youth of U.P. a new path, a new politics.”

To questions whether Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav will campaign for the alliance, Mr. Gandhi said, “Priyanka (Gandhi) has been of tremendous help to me and so have I. Whether she campaigns or not, it’s her choice. She is an asset to the Congress.”

“Dimple is an MP, she will decide what she has to do,” Mr. Yadav pointed out.

Mr. Gandhi said, ”This alliance isn’t opportunistic. We will explain to Modiji, BJP and RSS that U.P. and its people are one. We will not let them create a divide.”

On the negotiations on alliance which had at one time appeared like breaking down, the Congress leader said, “During negotiations there was posturing. He (Akhilesh) said something, I said something, he pretended to be angry and so did I. It’s part of negotiations. Media should not take this too seriously.”

“This is dil ka alliance hai, mil ke jeetenge (It is an alliance of heart, we will win together),” Mr. Gandhi said, adding “The message to PM Modi through this alliance is that Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christians are one. We won’t let Modi divide the nation.”

Mr. Yadav reiterated that the ‘cycle’ (SP symbol) and ‘hand’ (Congress symbol) will together speed up the progress of Uttar Pradesh.

The alliance has the catch line of “U.P. koh yeh saath pasand hai (UP likes this tie-up).”

“It is a people’s alliance. There is no doubt we will win all the seats. Development work will be faster now. Cycle and Hand is a great combination,” Mr. Yadav said.

Noting that both the leaders were together in the Lok Sabha, the SP chief said, “We know each other. Now we are glad that we have to work together.”

Mr. Yadav said people of the State will respond to those who are responsible for making them stand in queues. They are not satisfied with notes ban move.

“We have seen winters, summers, monsoon. We also saw yesterday’s manifesto. But has anyone seen achchhey din yet?”

On the Congress-SP seat sharing in Amethi and Rae Bareli, he said “If we tell you everything right away, there will not be any masala left.”