The Congress has so far announced 34 candidates for the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, where the main contest is between the SP-BSP combine and the BJP-led NDA. A closer look at the list makes it clear that the Congress, while trying its best to win the seats where it has a strong presence, does not want to damage the chances of the grand alliance of SP and BSP.
The party’s Uttar Pradesh chief and Rajya Sabha member Raj Babbar has made it clear that it will not field candidates in at least seven seats where senior leaders of SP, BSP and RLD are contesting. This may include Muzaffar Nagar, where RLD chief Ajit Singh is the candidate, and Bagpat, where his son Jayant Chaudhary is the candidate. Apart from this, the party will not contest Mainpuri and Kannauj seats where Mulayam Singh Yadav and his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav are the SP candidates.
Similarly, in Firozabad, where SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav’s son Akshay Yadav is the candidate, the Congress has decided not to field an opponent. However, the party has decided to contest against Mulayam Singh’snephew Dharmendra Yadav in Badaun. Veteran leader Saleem Iqbal Sherwani is the candidate there.
The party is not likely to field candidates against a couple of senior BSP leaders, too. Though the gesture is seen as a reciprocal action to the grand alliance’s move to not to field anyone against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, it is also being interpreted as a decision to split the pro-BJP votes by fielding candidates from strong communities present in each constituency.
For example, in Kairana, the Congress has fielded Harender Malik in an effort to split the strong Jat votes in the State. But in Saharanpur, the party has fielded Imran Masood from Saharanpur. It may impact the chances of BSP as Muslim votes may go to Masood, a strong candidate. It is also significant that of the 34 candidates, just six are Muslims. The grand alliance hopes to win almost all Muslim votes in the State.
The Central Election Committee of the Congress has so far announced 81 candidates for 12 States.