lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 19, 2019 22:00 IST

Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav, who had once counted the Congress as part of the grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, on Friday delivered a stinging comeback to the Congress chief for running down his alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Rahul Gandhi, who was in the state this week, had described the Akhilesh-Mayawati-Ajit Singh team as an opportunistic alliance that was afraid to stand up to the ruling BJP alliance at the Centre.

“The CBI and ED have their keys. They could not speak freely due to their fear but I can speak freely,” Gandhi told a rally at Badaun, 60 km from UP capital Lucknow on Thursday. Rahul Gandhi had presented himself as a sharp contrast to the alliance leaders. “I do not fear anyone... no one can subdue my voice,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi’s swipe at the alliance had taken some in the Samajwadi Party by surprise. The alliance had decided not to field candidates on Rae Bareli and Amethi seats that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have represented in the Lok Sabha.

When initial talks to include the Congress in the alliance did not work out, Akhilesh Yadav had gone to great lengths to insist that the Congress was still a part of this grand alliance. Some of the initial bonhomie did though wear thin in subsequent weeks.

Rahul Gandhi’s statement jibe appeared to have scraped-off another layer.

“The Congress is the biggest betrayer party in the country,” he shot back to a question on Rahul Gandhi’s comment. It was a reference to the recent review petition filed by “a Congress leader” in the Supreme Court about an old disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Yadav and his family.

Akhilesh Yadav rubbed it in. “It was the Congress that first used the CBI against us,” he said, a reference to allegations that the Congress governments at the Centre including the previous UPA government had used central probe agencies to arm-twist regional leaders.

Akhilesh Yadav’s strong defence of the alliance and the counterattack on Rahul Gandhi came hours after a string of joint rallies by the three alliance leaders. The first one, in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Mainpuri, stood out because it had brought his father Mulayam and the SP’s arch rival-turned-ally Mayawati on the same stage.

To many Samajwadi Party supporters, this joint rally also messaged that it had the unequivocal support of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav who has sometimes, given out confusing signals. Like this impromptu meeting at the SP headquarter lawns where Mulayam Yadav was heard blaming his son for the alliance that would reduce the number of seats that the SP would contest.