Congress-SP alliance: Priyanka Gandhi responsible for the deal between Congress and Samajwadi Party

It was speculated that the talks for a pre-poll alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party failed after Chief Minister and national president of the SP Akhilesh Yadav released his party’s manifesto on Sunday.

Published: January 22, 2017 5:44 PM IST

By Sohit Mishra

Priyanka Gandhi (File photo)
Priyanka Gandhi (File photo)

Lucknow, Jan 22: After reports on Saturday stating the failure of talks for a pre-poll alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, hectic late night activities between Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and poll strategist Prashant Kishor helped in paving a way for alliance. Sources say that the Samajwadi Party has now agreed to allot 105 seats out of 403 seats to Congress party.

Yet to confirm details, after releasing party manifesto on Sunday morning, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav told reporters that the alliance is on.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel  in a tweet on Sunday morning held Priyanka Gandhi’s efforts to be responsible for negotiating and clinching the deal with Samajwadi Party. “Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party. Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi,” he tweeted.

As per reported by India Today, Priyanka Gandhi yesterday night called MP of Kannauj and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav to negotiate about the pre-poll alliance and clinch a deal with the party. Congress party’s poll strategist Prashant Kishor has also been reported to be diverted to Lucknow where he met Chief Minister in the evening. Prashant Kishor urged the Chief Minister to look at the larger picture and not to break the alliance just for few seats.

It was speculated that the talks of a pre-poll alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party failed after Chief Minister and national president of the SP Akhilesh Yadav released his party’s manifesto on Sunday. Earlier it was supposed to be happening at a joint event of the Congress and SP. Samajwadi Party had already released its first list of 191 candidates that also included several seats held by Congress party.

However, as per Ahmed Patel, phone conversation between Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, helped in saving the alliance.

It is expected that both Priyanka and Dimple will be able to influence the female voters in the state and a coalition will be a win-win situation for both the parties. It is been expected that Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav may play a larger role in their respective parties as well as in the alliance. Demands in the past had been raised by Congress workers to project Priyanka as the chief ministerial candidate of the party in UP. Dimple, on the other hand, is enjoying a wave of popularity among SP workers. Ayushi Shrivastav, working at the Samajwadi Party office, reveals that photos, posters of Dimple are being sold in large numbers.

dimple-yadav-and-PRIYANKA-GANDHI

Uttar Pradesh is all set to go into phase 1 of the polls on February 11. The state will witness polls in seven phases where counting of the votes will be held on March 11.

Also Read:

For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest India News on India.com.

By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts Cookies Policy.