New Delhi: In politics there are no permanent enemies nor friends. Despite the much flaunted SP-Congress alliance, the latter is “open” to the idea of lending support to Mayawati if her Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) emerges as single largest party as are the other “secular” forces, including Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Janata Dal (United).
Though the much-hyped Bihar style ‘Mahaghathmandhan’ failed to take off in the crucial poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, all the “secular” parties will close ranks to stop communal forces (read BJP), sources in the party camps said.
That the Congress, desperate to revive itself in UP, was not averse to joining the Mayawati club was evident when party vice president Rahul Gandhi was all praise for the Dalit czarina at his first joint press conference with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav right after the SP-Congress alliance was formalised.
“BSP and BJP are not the same,” Mr Gandhi had said. The RLD, which is fighting separately in western UP with JD(U) and other smaller outfits will also rally around Mayawati if she comes close to the majority mark. Sources both in Congress and RLD revealed that Mayawati's move to make the Quami Ekta Dal merge with her outfit could help her in attracting a large chunk of Muslim votes.
The RLD, which has decided to go it alone in its stronghold of western UP after being rebuffed by the SP for an alliance, has already announced that supporting a BJP government was out of question.
