The Election Commission did something important in Uttar Pradesh quite unwittingly. By giving the Akhilesh Yadav faction of the Samajwadi Party the bicycle symbol, the EC has cleared the way for a grand alliance in the most significant of the five states going to polls in February. With Mulayam Singh completely outmaneuvered by this son who fought back with purpose and zeal, the stage is now set for an exciting alliance of the SP (Akhilesh), Congress, JD(U) and RJD. The alliance if tempered by the fire of seat-sharing will pose a huge challenge to the BJP which desperately wants to regain this state. The only odd-party out is the BSP which, for political reasons cannot align with the SP. Although polls show that the BJP is ahead, ground realities suggest a hung House if elections were held tomorrow. While the RJD and JD(U) are insignificant players in the State it is the combination of the SP and Congress that could pose problems for the BJP. In 2012 the SP garnered a vote-share of 29 per cent while the Congress got 11 per cent. A combination of the two would take them to 40 per cent - enough to crash-land the BJP’s dream of winning the state. Akhilesh, has wisely decided not to antagonise his father, but the challenge before him is to forge an alliance with the Congress which is more than willing to play second fiddle.
