BHOPAL, Oct 20: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday took a dig at the INDIA bloc after its constituents fielded candidates against each other in assembly polls, saying the opposition grouping is driven by the motto of “friendship in Delhi and wrestling in states”.
INDIA members Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have separately announced candidates for the November 17 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, clearly indicating the bloc is not working at state-level.
Upset with the Congress for not conceding any seat so far for the SP in Madhya Pradesh, its president chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday hinted the grand old party could get the same treatment from his outfit in Uttar Pradesh.
In stinging remarks that exposed chinks in the opposition INDIA grouping, Yadav said the Congress leadership should not allow its “small leaders” to comment on his party.
The SP and the AAP have announced candidates on multiple seats for polls in the BJP-ruled state, which has a 230-member assembly.
Latching on to apparent cracks in the recently formed bloc of more than two dozen parties, Chouhan dubbed it an incoherent coalition and called it ‘ghamandia’ (arrogant).
“We have been saying from day one that this is a ‘bemail gathbandhan (out of sync coalition). It is like friendship in Delhi (Centre), and wrestling in states. Neither their views are similar nor their hearts are at the same place. It is falling apart because of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the BJP leader said in a statement issued to the media.
He said SP president Yadav has said the Congress kept him in the dark for a year and later “ditched” his party over allocation of seats.
Chouhan remarked the Congress, the SP and the AAP are fighting against each other in Madhya Pradesh and wondered what kind of grouping is INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).
“People are surprised with their behaviour. When they (INDIA constituents) are fighting against each other in states, what will be the future of the country if they get to rule at the Centre?” he asked.
Chouhan said fissures developed in INDIA even before the alliance was formally announced and said he sees no future for the bloc.
On Thursday, SP chief Yadav said his party leaders would not have answered calls from the Congress for a meeting in Madhya Pradesh had he known that the INDIA bloc was confined only to the national level (for Lok Sabha polls).
In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh elections, the SP had won one seat — Bijawar — in the Bundelkhand region and finished second in five assembly constituencies. The Mulayam Singh Yadav-founded outfit had secured 1.3 per cent votes in the last MP polls which it fought in alliance with the tribal Gondwana Gantantra Party.
UPCC president hits back at Akhilesh
After Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s outburst over Congress not sharing seats in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, UPCC president Ajay Rai hit back on Friday saying the SP cannot blame his party as it released its list of candidates before the Congress and was benefiting the BJP by contesting separately.
Exposing a rift in the INDIA grouping, Yadav had on Thursday hinted that the Congress could get the same treatment from his party in Uttar Pradesh after it did not leave any seat for the SP in Madhya Pradesh.
The SP has announced 33 candidates for the November 17 polls to the 230-member assembly in the BJP-governed state. The Congress has announced its candidates for 229 seats.
The Congress had apparently agreed to leave six seats for SP in MP but the seat-sharing arrangement did not materialise.
Raising what he termed as the basic questions under the “gathbandhan dharma’, Rai in a statement said the people of Uttar Pradesh want to know that “when our party was talking to SP about seats (in MP), why did Samajwadi Party release the list of its candidates before Congress released the list of candidates?” Yadav reiterated in Shahjahanpur during the day that based on its performance in Madhya Pradesh, Congress had agreed to give six seats but not even the sitting SP MLA was given a ticket.
In the statement, Rai asked, “Akhilesh Yadav is himself saying that he wanted six seats, then what is the point of fielding candidates on 30 seats, who will benefit from it?” “On one hand Akhilesh Yadav talks about saving the Constitution, fighting for the weaker sections, Dalits and backward classes, and on the other hand, he is contesting elections in MP separately, what is his real compulsion? Tell this to the public. Do not blame the Congress. Who will benefit from fighting separately, everyone knows that BJP will benefit from it,” Rai said. (PTI)