Before they get ready to take on the Bahujan Samaj Party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party will battle each other in the first round.
The two parties that could finally end up as allies in the post poll scenario in Uttar Pradesh, will first make a concerted effort to elbow out each other so that they can emerge as the sole challenger to the ruling BSP.
According to sources, the Samajwadi Party will now mount a scathing attack on the Congress and will also launch a campaign to discredit the party on issues ranging from corruption to inflation to the Ramlila Grounds incident.
“The idea is to send a message that the Congress is as, if not more, tainted as the BSP and both the parties are two faces of the same coin. It is the Samajwadi Party that stands above the two parties. Both BSP and the Congress claim to be secular but the BSP has allied thrice with the BJP while the Congress posture on the temple issue remains ambiguous. When it comes to minority interests, it is the Samajwadi Party that has an impeccable record,” said a senior SP leader.
To reinforce its support to minorities, the Samajwadi Party was at pains to clarify at its just-concluded national convention in Agra that it did not support Baba Ramdev but merely condemned the violence at the Ramlila Grounds.
Earlier, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav had come out strongly in favour of Baba Ramdev but after the latter’s links with the saffron brigade became visible, the Samajwadi Party hurriedly retraced its steps.