NEW DELHI, 7 January — Even as the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) have refrained from entering into a pre-poll tie-up, the political dynamics of Uttar Pradesh seem to have intertwined their electoral strategies.
Leaders of the Congress party, who have begun to talk about a coalition government, strongly feel that the two parties must fight the polls with some kind of a tacit pact.
A senior leader of the UP Congress said, "We are not talking about electoral pact, but both the parties must have a clear understanding of the ground realities."
He said the possibility‚ of a hung assembly must dawn on the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Hundreds of aspirants for Congress tickets, who throng the party central office here these days, express similar feelings. "If Mulayam Singh does not attack us, we too will spare his candidates. He must recognize who is the enemy No. 1. It is the BJP," said a senior UP Congress leader. Congress leaders concede that the SP had gained significantly at the last parliamentary polls because the Congress concentrated its energies on fighting the BJP. They feel that chances of a polarization this time around would be much more because "the BSP was unlikely to be a major factor in the polls."
The leaders say that Mayawati would not be able to "fool her minority voters anymore as everybody knows she may join the BJP any moment."
