Yet another bad news for the Congress, the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh gave indications about the possible political coalition ahead of 2019 general elections. There is hardly any place for the Congress in it. SP-BSP coalition may contest on 75 seats and remaining seats have been left for the other coalition partners. Possibilities of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) getting two-three seats cannot be ignored as well. According to media reports, the Congress party will not be the part of the grand coalition against the BJP. Grand coalition would comprise of only the regional parties to challenge the BJP , this means that the Congress would not have any role to play in this grand coalition. It would be a huge embarrassment for the grand old party that they have been reduced to such a low. In Phulpur and Gorakhpur by polls, the grand old party received hardly 20,000 votes. After this one can agree with the fact that the INC has lost its traditional voters to other parties like BJP, SP and the BSP.
This political untouchability might not go down well with the grand old party which emerged with a huge number of seats in UP in 2009. The Congress won 21 seats in UP in 2009 General elections. However, possibilities are there that the SP would not field its candidate in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the constituency of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, respectively. These are the two seats which the Congress party managed to win in 2014 General elections.
According to current trends, it would be no exaggeration to say that in order to stop the BJP from coming back to power, the Congress party might have to swallow its pride again just like it did in Karnataka. This will give precedence to other anti-BJP regional parties, who might employ the same strategy. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Telangana CM KCR already pitched for a strong federal front comprising of regional parties only, which would be both anti-BJP and anti-Congress. Yesterday, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar also adopted a proactive role in a united opposition against the BJP. He said, “All political parties, including regional forces, should unite against the BJP in the next elections. In recently held Palghar by-polls, if we add the votes polled by Shiv Sena, INC and Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi, it is clearly is more than the votes polled by the BJP. Across the country, BJP had faced defeat in nine parliament seats because of the unity of all like-minded parties.” This statement raised one more red flag for the Congress. The Congress is cautious of Sharad Pawar, and they don’t want Sharad Pawar to play such a proactive role. President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), Ashok Chavan said, “We are ready for alliance only with like-minded secular parties. The Congress will not have any alliance with Shiv Sena and MNS.”
But then again, possibilities of the Congress’ ego coming in the way cannot be declined. A glimpse of this can be seen in the Maharashtra politics. Their ego might end up spoiling the game for themselves as well for the regional parties. The Congress has its cadre across the country and it would bounce back surely in the near future if it wants to. However, for the regional parties, it’s a do or die situation.