UP polls: SP-Congress alliance still has seats overlapping

Lucknow: The show of bonhomie between SP and Congress leaders seems deceptive since the two parties have, till date, failed to resolve the issue of ticket distribution.

It had been formally announced that the Samajwadi Party would contest 298 seats and the congress would get 105 seats. The Samajwadi Party has already released lists of 336 candidates while the Congress has announced 68 seats.

The process of changing candidates in both parties has become a continuous process, causing considerable confusion in both the parties. Reports on Thursday claimed that the Samajwadi Party had consented to leave eight out of ten assembly seats in Rae Bareli and Amethi for the Congress while SP would contest only Amethi and Unchahar seats.

The Congress, later Thursday night, released its list of candidates in which three were for Rae Bareli (Rae Bareli, Harchandpur and Sareni) and two for Amethi (Jagdishpur and Tiloi). Congress sources said on Friday that candidates on the remaining seats (Salon and Gauriganj in Amethi and Bachhrawan in Rae Bareli) would be announced soon.

Congress and SP candidates are overlapping on several other seats too. In Bhognipur Assembly seats in Kanpur Dehat, both the parties have fielded their candidates.

In Kidwai Nagar, Congress MLA Ajay Kapoor was in for a shock when  Om Prakash Misra of SP  turned up to file his nomination, while Congress’s Sohil Akhtar Ansari’s candidature has been challenged by SP’s Mohd Hasan Roomi on the Kanpur Cantonment seat.

It’s not family war but Dharam Yudh: Shivpal
Shivpal Yadav, 61, is facing the toughest battle of his life as well as political career. Despite only a handful of supporters, he is brimming with determination and confidence as he aims to win the election and swing back into mainstream politics. In an interview with Amita Verma he talks about issues surrounding him.

Excerpts from the interview:
This is your toughest election. How are you coping since most SP leaders are staying away from your campaign?
The most important thing is that I have Netaji’s blessings (Mulayam) and that is what matters most. I had, at one point, given up the idea of contesting elections but it was Netaji who asked me to go ahead and I can never defy him. Besides, my brothers and my supporters are with me and the people of my constituency are supporting me because they know me well enough to realise the truth.

You have been locked in a battle with your nephew Akhilesh Yadav. How do you look back at what happened?
This is not a family war or a political battle. This is a ‘Dharam Yudh’ (battle for justice) and I will not step back from this. I was sacked for no apparent fault of mine. There were people carrying tales from one side to another but I expected others to behave in a more mature manner. I even told the Chief Minister that I am ready to give up everything but the respect of Netaji should be intact and he should remain national President. Even that condition was not accepted.

But some leaders say that Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav should confine himself to the role of a mentor.
Those people who make such statements should realize their own standing. Had it not been for Netaji, where would they have been today? It angers and pains me to see these people talk like this.

What is your take on the ‘new’ Samajwadi Party?
No family or party can prosper if elders are treated disrespectfully. Senior ministers, including me, Ambica Chaudhary and Narad Rai were sacked for no fault of theirs. Even now senior leaders are being denied tickets only because someone believes that they are not loyal.