Shivpal, Akhilesh spar over ticket distribution

The prospect of a Bihar-style grand alliance in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh was once again mired in Samajwadi Party (SP)’s internal contradictions, even as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday described the formation of the ‘Mahagatbandhan’ as part of the BJP’s poll strategy.

The SP’s top leaders seemed to be at loggerheads over ticket distribution, with the party’s UP unit chief Shivpal Yadav taking on Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for reportedly floating an alternative list of candidates for the UP polls. In a series of tweets on Monday, Shivpal who, along with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh, is part of the anti-Akhilesh faction in the SP, said tickets would be given based on winnability.

“Tikat ka batwara jeet ke adhar par hoga…Ab tak 175 logon ko ticket diya ja chukka hai. Kiske ticket katenge isko lekar jila sangathan, pradesh sangathan aur party ke varisht lok nirnay lenge (Tickets will be distributed entirely on the basis of who can win. So far, 175 tickets have been distributed. The senior leaders of the party and organisation will decide who will and will not get tickets),” tweeted Shivpal, to reports about Akhilesh complaining to his father Mulayam about the selection of candidates.

The public tussle between the two factions is a serious blow to grand alliance’s formation between the Congress, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the SP. An alliance can be formed only when Mulayam and Akhilesh, who hold divergent views on the issue of tying up with other parties, can come to an understanding. Mulayam has spoken publicly against the alliance whereas Akhilesh supports the idea and believes that tying up with the Congress and the RLD, which seems to be weaning demonetisation-struck farmers away from the BJP, will fetch them over 300-odd seats in the 404-member UP Assembly.

Meanwhile, Mayawati accused the trio of working at the BJP’s behest. “The SP-Congress alliance in UP will come into being only if the BJP gives its approval, and if it (BJP) feels it will gain from it... The green signal will be given by BJP after evaluating its gains and losses from such an alliance,” she said in Lucknow.

Mayawati said it was being stated that the BJP was exerting pressure on the SP chief and his family through the Enforcement Directorate, the I-T department and the CBI through disproportionate assets cases, and “other weaknesses” to join hands with Congress to divide Muslim votes and stop the BSP from coming to power.

‘The BJP tsunami’

BJP too piped up with its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma asserting that even if the BSP joins hands with the SP and the Congress, they cannot stop a “BJP tsunami” from sweeping UP.

“Time has come for UP to join the developed States’ rank. The SP, SP and Congress can join hands and still not stop this. BJP will save the people of UP from misgovernance, corruption and rampant crime. Na bhrashtachar, na apradh, is baar bhajapa sarkar (No corruption, no crime, this time it will be BJP in UP),” said Shrikant Sharma in a statement issued in Delhi.