Congress, BSP reach 'understanding'
for Madhya Pradesh polls
The Congress today announced an 'electoral strategic understanding' with the Bahujan Samaj Party in Madhya Pradesh to defeat ''communal and fascist forces'' in next month's assembly election.
Spokesman Ajit Jogi said in New Delhi that the Congress would contest all 320 seats in the state assembly, but the two parties would work to defeat communal forces. He refused to elaborate, saying a good general never reveals his strategy in advance.
Corroborating this, the BSP said that while it would have no alliance with any party in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, it would not field candidates in places where it is weak.
Addressing a huge rally to launch the party's election campaign at the Ramlila grounds, BSP president Kanshi Ram and vice-president Mayawati said they had decided to go to the polls alone because previous alliances had not helped the BSP.
Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said a critical analysis of electoral results had shown that while the BSP successfully transferred its votes to its partners, the reverse never happened.
She cited the alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh as an example. Under their agreement, the BSP contested 300 of the 425 seats in the state assembly while the Congress contested the rest. But while the Congress improved its tally to 35 seats, the BSP could win only 40 as the Congress failed to transfer its votes.
"We will not fight with the Congress to defeat the BJP, but we will adopt a strategy which will serve the purpose of improving its strength and preventing the growth of communal forces," she said.
"Is nayee strategy se saanp [the BJP] bhi mar jayega aur lathi bhi nahin tootegi (the new strategy will dislodge the BJP without any loss to the BSP)," she said.
Kanshi Ram said the decision not to field candidates where his party is weak was taken "to prevent the communal force from progressing".
Congress and BSP leaders had been engaged in negotiations for the last few days. Though there were differences in the Congress on the alliance, with one group saying it would weaken the party in the long run, there was agreement that non-BJP votes should not be allowed to split.
The two politicians said contesting alone is very important for the BSP's future. They pointed out that the party which was a regional outfit a couple of years ago had today grown into a national party and stood at the fourth spot in terms of votes polled in the 1998 Lok Sabha election.
"We want the party to be at the number one spot and capture power not only in the states but also at the Centre," they said.
In his hour-long speech at the 'shakti pradarshan rally' (show of strength) which was also attended by Arif Mohammed Khan, MP, Kanshi Ram exhorted his workers and supporters to always keep in mind that the BSP's growth is more important than the BJP's defeat.
Kanshi Ram and Mayawati, who were scheduled to address the rally at 11 am IST, arrived only at 2.45 pm, nearly four hours behind schedule, but the rally was still growing.
UNI
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