Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav ’s decision to skip the INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi on Sept 30 has sparked political chatter at a time when seat-sharing discussions between the SP and Congress for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections remain unresolved. As for claims that he was busy with the nominations for the Rajay Sabha polls, the notification for the elections is to be issued on Sept 29 and the last date of filing of nominations is Oct 6. This when Akhilesh himself has repeatedly said that SP would contest 2027 polls in alliance with the Congress – something which Rahul Gandhi or party’s national president Malikarjun Kharge was yet to formally announce. In such a situation, if Akhilesh takes part in the Sept 30 India bloc meeting and is seen with Kharge and Rahul, media attention was likely to shift SP–Cong tussle over seat-sharing for UP polls, leaving Akhilesh in a precarious situation, especially when he had repeatedly confirmed that the alliance was in place. Recently, Imran Masood and SP MP Iqra Hasan, pitching their respective leaders Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav as the main opposition face in UP also added to the strain build-up projecting that the two opposition parties were involved in a tussle for one-upmanship ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections.
If sources are to be believed, Akhilesh does not have any “unavoidable” kind of engagement on Sept 30 as per his itinerary of the specific date. Sources said Akhilesh had only routine pre-election events lined up for Wednesday. The SP has maintained a studied silence on such comments with Akhilesh having told his party functionaries that no one other than him, will speak on the issue to avoid unnecessary exchange of barbs. Congress Party’s state president Ajay Rai said in election time people visit different districts and Congress leaders may visit SP strongholds of Etawah, Kannauj, and Mainpuri in the coming days. Thereafter, responding to a media query on Rai’s comment, SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav, said Congress was welcomed to visit Mainpuri and Etawah but will not get votes.
political circles are viewing his absence through the prism of the ongoing uncertainty over alliance negotiations While Akhilesh cited pre-scheduled election-related engagements. In the political circles, Akhilesh’s decision to skip the India bloc meet convened by the Congress Party was being seen as SP’s tit-for-tat for the Congress brass which has consciously kept mum on seat-sharing talks with SP even as the grand old party’s state functionaries continue to blame the SP for delaying seat-sharing talks. Recently, Akhilesh while starting his PDA Yatra from Rae Bareli – the parliamentary constituency of Rahul Gandhi – led to some strong reactions from UPCC. Shivpal happens to be six-time MLA from Jaswant Nagar assembly segment of Mainpuri parliamentary constituency of which Dimple Yadav is the sitting MP.
Strain has been building in SP-Congress relations for some time now with Congress leaders including Saharanpur MP Imran Masood and UPCC chief Ajay Rai coming up with statements before the media that appear to ‘undermine’ the SP as a mere regional satrap and the Congress as the ‘big brother’.