UP Elections 2017: Congress hopes its will gain from its alliance with the Samajwadi Party
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi did not rule out extending his party's partnership with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party as
the two young leaders came together on Sunday in a rally in Lucknow that they kicked off with a joint press conference. "Whether we will have an alliance for Lok Sabha is something that has not been decided as of now. But it is possible," Mr Gandhi said. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav offered no comment.
They had been asked whether their alliance, which projects Akhilesh Yadav for a second term as UP chief minister, will be extended to the 2019 general election to project Mr Gandhi for Prime Minister.
The Samajwadi Party was not a part of the Congress-led UPA during its 10-year tenure at the Centre that ended in 2014. But its "outside support" had helped the first UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh narrowly survive a no-confidence motion in parliament after the Left Front withdrew its support over the nuclear deal with the US.
The Congress, whose strength in Lok Sabha dropped to an all-time low of 44 seats in the 2014 general elections, won its first significant election last year in Bihar by agreeing to play junior partner in the "mahagathbandhan" or Grand Alliance with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal.
In Uttar Pradesh, Congress hopes its alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party will bring similar rewards, defeating the BJP and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP. Although opponents like the BJP have mocked the Congress's strategy, many see it as the party's investment in relationships for the 2019 national elections.
The alliance between 43-year-old Akhilesh Yadav and 46-year-old Rahul Gandhi - and its projected forward-looking policies and youth power - hopes to draw back the youth vote in Uttar Pradesh, which swung towards the BJP in 2014 just two years after bringing the Samajwadi Party to power. The alliance also expects to get the backing of the minorities.
In 2014, the BJP had swept the state, winning 70 of the state's 80 seats. The Congress had won only two - the Gandhi family turf of Amethi and Raebareli.