Amid reports that the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) might leave the Congress out of an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday that if his party was excluded from the coalition in the State, any nationwide front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be “weakened” and it might lead to a “stillborn situation”.

Mr. Khurshid said cobbling together a grand alliance in U.P. would be the “trickiest” exercise for all Opposition parties, and asserted that it was crucial for the Congress, the SP, the BSP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to join forces to put up a formidable challenge against the BJP.

Optimistic view

The former U.P. Congress chief said the situation in the State was “fluid” and party chief Rahul Gandhi was taking a “cautiously optimistic view”, while keeping his “mind and heart open” for alliances for the 2019 general election.

Asked about reports that the SP and the BSP may leave out the Congress from the alliance, Mr. Khurshid said, “I think it is a little bit of posturing, but I can’t say for sure... I have no reason to believe it to be true or not to be true, but it will be myopic if the Congress is kept out of the alliance in U.P. because it may have an impact on the larger alliance nationwide.” “If U.P. does not contribute in a wholesome manner to the larger alliance nationwide, then the alliance nationwide itself will get weakened and it may cause a stillborn situation,” he said.

He expressed optimism over forging of a grand alliance in the State and said it would be the best thing that could happen to politics.

“Each one of us will have to give and take, there can’t be just a take-take or give-give position. So, with a give and take of the right kind among all four of us, we will put up a good fight to the BJP. If it doesn’t happen, it will be a historic loss,” the former Union Minister asserted.

His remarks come amid reports claiming that the BSP and the SP were getting ready to announce their Lok Sabha tie-up without the Congress. The Congress has dismissed the reports as “rumours“.

The BSP too had denied the reports that the party would formally announce the tie-up on January 15, party chief Mayawati’s birthday.

However, the BSP and the SP neither attended the joint Opposition meet chaired by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on December 10, nor the recent swearing-in ceremonies of the Congress Chief Ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

On whether the Congress was poised for resurgence in U.P. following victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Mr. Khurshid sounded optimistic but asserted U.P. was a different ball game altogether, as the party had been out of power there for a very long time.

Because of regional parties, the Congress had been squeezed out in the State and it was a “steeper climb” in U.P. than in the other States.

“You can’t expect overnight impact which would be enough for us to be able to have a very significant substantial presence (in U.P.). It is going to be a step by step affair in U.P.,” he said.

Noting that the Congress had about 7% vote share in the last election and may have gained 3 to 4 % since then, Mr. Khurshid said the party needed to get into the range of 18% to make an impact.

“So we need a much longer plan...Now whether it will have to be done via an arrangement with other parties to begin with, or it has to be done in parallel with them, independently of them etc., is something we will have to decide in due course as we move forward,” he said.

Acknowledging that the base of the SP and the BSP was larger than the Congress in U.P., Mr. Khurshid said it was important to be conscious of the difference in vote shares and be realistic about any negotiations for an alliance.

On whether the recent Congress wins had changed the dynamics of a grand alliance at the national level, he said the ground situation had certainly changed with the party winning three significant States.

“Nobody is blind to the ground situation, whether they want to admit it (or not) for strategic and for purposes of negotiations, but I think the reality cannot be escaped by anyone,” he said.

On Mr. Gandhi being looked upon as a serious contender to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the victories in the Hindi heartland States, Mr. Khurshid said the Congress president had led from the front and the ground reality was there for everyone to see.

“He has led us to victory in three very important States. So we have to keep that in mind, you cannot blind yourself to it. You can’t ignore it. We have all been in the party, we have all been supporting him because we believe that he is the future for our party and he is the future for the country,” the senior Congress leader said.

Asked how many seats in UP would the Congress be content with fighting in a grand alliance, the former Farrukhabad MP said it would be inadvisable to venture a guess as some may say ‘he is asking for a lot, while others may say it is too little’

Mr. Khurshid said the message that he drew from the Sstate elections recently was “never say die“.

Asked if he would contest this time from Farrukhabad, Mr. Khurshid said if his party wanted him to then he would. He added, “For me, there is only Farrukhabad and there is U.P.. For me, there is no other option.”