Congress upbeat as it wraps up alliance with Laloo
George Iype in New Delhi
Ten days after the dissolution of the 11th Lok Sabha, the
Congress is hammering a grand alliance of secular parties
to fight the coming general election.
For the first time after it brought the United
Front government down, the mood in the Congress is upbeat. It has already
tied up a firm electoral alliance with Bihar's biggest vote-catcher
-- the Rashtriya Janata Dal's Laloo Prasad Yadav.
Congress president Sitaram Kesri and his aides
were busy on Sunday and Monday, giving shape to its poll strategy
with the major regional players in the country.
The regional alliance that Kesri has nearly struck are with Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and
Maharashtra; and Kanshi Ram's Bahujan Samaj Party in Madhya Pradesh
Punjab and probably UP.
Others on Kesri's list are Ajit
Singh's BKKP in UP, Shankersinh Vaghela's RSP in Gujarat and Jayalalitha's
AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
Tariq Anwar, Kesri's political secretary, told Rediff
On the NeT that the Congress strategy during this election will
be to fight the BJP by fielding fresh and young candidates.
Senior Congress leaders, he said, are now engaged in
chalking out a seat-sharing formula with the regional parties.
As per the initial seat-sharing arrangements, the
Congress is willing to give 30 seats to the Samajwadi Party in UP.
Party strategists feel this will considerably weaken the BJP position in UP.
The BJP won 52 out of the 85 seats in UP in the
last general election.
The Congress is also ready to give at least 40
seats to Laloo Yadav's RJD in order to fight the BJP-Samata Party alliance
in Bihar. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress will give at least
18 seats to Kanshi Ram's BSP, and in Gujarat 10 seats to Vaghela's
RJP. In Tamil Nadu, both the AIADMK and Congress are likely to
share equal number of seats.
The feeling in the Congress is that a Congress-led
front will be able to checkmate the BJP in the electorally crucial
states of UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
In the event of Sonia Gandhi's refusal to lead
the party's poll campaign, Kesri will be the Congress's star campaigner.
Party sources said Kesri, who has never contested
a Lok Sabha election, is likely to contest the poll this time.
At his meeting with Laloo Yadav in New Delhi on Sunday.
Kesri expressed his desire to contest from the Patna constituency
in Bihar.
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