LUCKNOW: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati who decided to cobble their alliance keeping the Congress tactically and cautiously out may be repenting today as the poll figures indicate that had Congress been a part of gathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh, it would have been more formidable impacting the outcome of at least 10 seats.
Though the overall percentage of alliance (38.62%) and Congress (6.3%) put together accounts for 44.92% against BJP’s total vote share of 49.56%, but on seats like Barabanki, Baduan, Banda, Basti, Dhaurahra, Meerut, Sultanpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Machhlishahr and Firozabad, alliance and Congress combined votes are higher than those of the BJP’s winners.
In Firozabad, Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party –Lohia played the spoilsport for SP as was resolved by sulking younger brother of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav while parting ways with
parent organisation...
As per the present scenario, on these seats the Congress, in all probability, played ‘vote katuwa’ for alliance candidates instead of BJP. In fact, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had created flutter by claiming in the middle of her campaign that she had fielded such candidates who, if not win, would dent BJP’s prospects and benefit the alliance.