SP chief Akhilesh Yadav believes Congress is part of the anti-BJP alliance in UP

New Delhi, Feb 11: Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav took a subtle dig at the Congress at a recent event in the capital alleging that while some parties were trying to stop the BJP in the upcoming general election, others chose the time to build their own base.

Yadav's words came at The Wire Dialogues on February 7, four days ahead of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress's newly appointed General Secretary for East UP, conducted her maiden road show.

Vadra is in charge of 42 seats in the region which is home to electoral bases of BJP heavyweights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the state's chief minister, Yogi Adityanath.

Last month, Yadav formed an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the other big state player for the Lok Sabha election, along with the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh.

The Congress was not seen part of the alliance, a development which many thought had pushed the party leadership to go for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry into politics.

The alliance, however, decided to contest in 78 out of 80 seats and leave out the two Congress/Gandhi bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi that have Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as their parliamentary representatives.

The Congress's decision to contest the election alone in UP could see the anti-BJP votes getting split helping the saffron brigade that won 73 out of 80 seats in UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Such an eventuality could defeat the very purpose of the alliance that the state satraps have made.

Yadav played it diplomatically when was asked when the state parties did not include the Congress in their club saying the Grand Old Party is very much a part of the alliance since they did not touch its two strongholds. He said had UP had more parliamentary seats, they could have given the Congress more.

While the SP won just five seats in the 2014 polls, the Congress won the two that the Gandhis hold while the BSP and RLD drew blank.

Akhilesh's diplomatic take when asked whether Priyanka Gandhi's entry will hurt alliance

Yadav also had a diplomatic answer when the anchor, a senior journalist, asked him whether the entry of Vadra would hurt their electoral prospects in the coming election.

Though he welcomed the 47-year-old's former entry into politics, he said the 2019 general polls will see people rather than parties fighting the BJP to defeat them.

On the question of backing Rahul Gandhi as the prime minister of India in the situation so arises after the elections, Yadav said he believed in the luck factor when it comes to government formation, the Wire reported. He though added that he himself was not in the prime ministerial race.

Too many loopholes to plug?