Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav. file | Photo credit: Sandeep Saxena
After showing initial enthusiasm over the Congress victory in Karnataka – describing it as a mandate for a “New India” against the BJP’s divisive politics – Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Congress government in May The decision not to join 20 made it clear that any hope of a united opposition front against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is a distant dream.
Mr Yadav decided to visit eastern UP on Saturday and was also scheduled to meet family members of late former minister Hari Shankar Tiwari – for decades, a staunch opponent of UP CM Yogi Adityanath – in Gorakhpur. The SP chief had to cancel the planned visit at the last minute due to the death of someone in his family.
SP has no representative
SP spokesperson Sunil Singh Yadav Sajan, a close aide of the party president, said, “Our leader congratulated the Congress for the victory, but his program was already fixed before the date of swearing-in was announced.” Hindu, He said that it is not necessary to stand behind the Congress. “We have said that the party which is strong in a particular state should be kept at the forefront while fighting elections there against the BJP, and in UP, the SP is the only party that can defeat the saffron party, so let others stand behind We should be,” Mr. Sajan said. In fact, no SP representative attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Since the Karnataka results were declared last week, Mr Yadav has toned down his attacks on the Congress. He described the southern state’s decision as “the beginning of the end” for the BJP. “The message from Karnataka is that the end of BJP’s negative, communal, corrupt, divisive, false propaganda, individualistic politics has begun. This is the mandate of a new positive India against inflation, unemployment, corruption and animosity. A few days later, he supported West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement regarding opposition unity at the national level, saying that the party which is strong in a state should be put at the forefront while contesting elections in that state or region. Needed
The SP’s warmth towards the Congress comes after months of bitterness in which Mr Yadav had even said that both the BJP and the Congress were one and the same. He had indicated that the SP would put up a candidate in Amethi – a pocket borough of the Congress represented till 2019 by the Gandhi family – where the SP has not contested since 1996. “Our party has a different ideology. The BJP and the Congress are one and the same,” he said when asked about Congress joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra in December 2022, which he also missed.
single challenger
The SP chief’s schedule to visit CM Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur and meet late Tiwari’s family – on the day Karnataka government was formed – appears to be a plan to project himself as the sole challenger to the BJP Have been in the state.
Shashi Kant Pandey, teaching political science, said, “I haven’t read much about Mr. Yadav visiting Gorakhpur on the day the Karnataka government was formed, but yes, I think he is keeping distance from the Congress.” ” at Lucknow Central University. Asked what the SP chief’s motive could be, Mr Pandey said, “The SP believes that the Congress is a burden in UP, as the grand-old party’s performance in the 2022 assembly polls was disastrous. That’s why she thinks why to waste seats by giving seats to Congress. In the 2022 assembly elections, despite a spirited campaign led by the party’s general secretary in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress won only two seats in the assembly of 403 with a vote share of 2.33 per cent, the lowest ever in the state . Which he ruled for about four decades.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and SP’s ally Rajya Sabha member Jayant Chowdhary attended the swearing-in ceremony in Bengaluru. “The RLD is an independent party, so its leaders wanted to keep their options open for any future opposition front formation,” Mr. Pandey said.