Akhilesh, Mayawati skip Congress' big show in Rajasthan, MP

KOLKATA: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati gave the Congress show in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan a miss - days after announcing unconditional support to its government in MP - leading to more speculation over the fate of the proposed anti-BJP grand alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
BSP chief Mayawati's no-show is no surprise, political analysts say.They say that by opting out of the Congress's show, the two regional satraps have tried to send the message that despite a turnaround in the fortunes of the grand old party in three Hindi-heartland states, it would have to play second fiddle when it comes to UP.
In fact, while extending her support to Congress in MP the day after results, Mayawati - in the same breath - criticised Congress's policies, underlining the fact that BSP came into existence only because of continuous neglect and suppression of Dalits under Congress's governance.
Akhilesh deputed Rajesh Kumar - the lone party MLA in MP - to represent him at Kamal Nath's oath-taking ceremony in Bhopal Monday afternoon. "Our party president had prior commitments in Lucknow, including a series of meetings with party leaders, so he did not go," said party MLC and spokesperson Udaiveer Singh.
But sources in SP said it was a conscious decision to stay away from the Congress show in Bhopal and Jaipur. "We gave Congress unconditional support in MP to help it form government despite the fact they did not take us along - be it a formal pre-poll alliance or a seat-sharing formula," said a neta confirming that the leadership was not pleased with the manner in which Congress treated the SP in MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh in the run-up to the elections.
An SP neta said Congress wanted to ferry all Opposition party heads to Jaipur, Bhopal and Raipur for the swearing-in ceremonies of their CMs with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi leading the group, apparently to give an impression that all regional parties are "already" rallying behind it. Coming a day after DMK chief MK Stalin backed Rahul as PM candidate, the move could have reinforced a message not in line with party's declared stance, he said. "We've already announced we will choose our leader after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are announced," he said.
Mayawati's disenchantment with Congress was also being seen as the reason that may have prompted SP to stay away. "SP is looking at an alliance with Mayawati ahead of 2019 polls and would understandably do everything to keep BSP in good humour," said a political analyst.
On the other hand, BSP's success lies in firming up Dalit-Muslim votes that drove its success since Kanshi Ram founded the party to wean away Dalits and Muslims from the Congress of the 1990s. Mayawati knows if Congress revives in UP, it would be on the strength of BSP's Dalit and Muslim vote banks. This could return BSP to the early 1990s era when it had just 13 MLAs and struggled on the state's political landscape, analysts say.
Though Trinamool's Mamata Banerjee was conspicuous by her absence in Bhopal, party sources said the Bengal CM was unable to make the trip due to personal reasons. The date, December 17, coincided with the CM's mother's seventh death anniversary. Banerjee spent Monday at state secretariat Nabanna. TMC was represented by party's Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haque at Jaipur and MP Dinesh Trivedi in Bhopal.