Pawar to spearhead Congress deal with SP

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar has been asked by party president Sitaram Kesri to explore the possibility of a Congress-Samajwadi Party tie-up in Uttar Pradesh to check the ruling alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Pawar got the job after the UP Congress legislature party revolted after the party leadership said it would oppose the BJP motion to oust Governor Romesh Bhandari in the Lok Sabha. The UP Congress unit was keen on getting rid of Bhandari and made their point of view known by deposing CLP leader Pramod Tiwari by Naresh Agarwal.

Interestingly, state Congress leader Jitendra Prasada had earlier asked Kesri to keep Pawar off his turf when the former defence minister had suggested a Congress-SP tie-up.

Asked by Kesri to explore the possibility anew, Pawar is believed to be already in touch with the SP leadership.

The concern about the BJP advance in UP has even worried Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who has okayed an SP plan to drive a wedge between BJP leader Kalyan Singh and the party’s central leadership. Kalyan Singh is himself worried that though he is supposed to be switching places with Mayawati six months later, he may not get the chance. When he said as much, his own backers forced him to back down in the party's interests.

The Congress has also backed the SP plan with Congress general secretary in charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kesri's political secretary Tariq Anwar stating that Prasada's failure to contain communal forces in UP had necessitated new equations. Anwar admitted that an alliance with the SP "was being looked into". Both Azad and Anwar stressed that the proposed tie-up would have to take into consideration the dynamics of UP politics.

Union Minister of State for Health and SP MP Salim Shervani -- a former Congressman -- is keeping the Congress and other UF constituents in touch with the SP’s strategy against the Mayawati government.

That shows the Congress knows the SP is in for a tough time, with BSP chief Kanshi Ram and his party colleague Mayawati out to ‘nail’ SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for shielding SP cadres in the ayurveda scam and his alleged involvement in the attack on Mayawati in May 1995. The BJP-BSP sought Governor Bhandari’s transfer after he allegedly refused the Central Bureau of Investigation permission to proceed against one of Mulayam Singh's party colleagues in the ayurveda scam.

SP leaders like Amar Singh, I D Yadav and K C Tyagi, who are in touch with Pawar, say they welcome an alliance with the Congress to fight communal forces in the state. I D Yadav also indicated that the SP would try to attract legislators from the BJP and the BSP who are not happy with their parties. Mulayam Singh was already in touch with many such disgruntled legislators, he said.

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