Barely a day after Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Amar Singh,Sunil Dutt and Jaya Bachchan came to Bharuch to cavass for party candidate Kanaksinh Mangrola,the party announced its support for the Congress candidate in Vadodara,on Friday. In a joint press conference,local SP and Congress leaders shared the dais,clarifying that the tie-up is limited to the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat only. SP has fielded candidates against the Congress in other places in the state. Farid Khan,the Gujarat president of SPs minority cell,told the media that it was mutually decided that the SP will not field any candidate in Vadodara and that the party will support the Congress candidate here. According to him,this will make a dent in the BJPs vote bank. Other party members said that they will be able to woo the minority voters by supporting the Congress. Senior SP leader Surendra Yadav said: We will practically gain nothing out of it,but it will certainly make a big dent in the BJPs vote bank. We are eyeing a lead of around 50,000 votes for Congress Satyajitsinh Gaekwad. Senior Congress leader Anuj Patel said: We have accepted the SPs support to defeat the communal forces. We consulted the party high command on this and after their permission,we joined hands with the SP. He added: At the moment,it is only in Vadodara,but senior Congress leaders are working on extending the tie up across the state. However,wherever SP has fielded its candidate,he/she will not be withdrawn as decided by both parties. Surendra Yadav,while admitting the difference between the two parties,said,We will like to post this question to senior Congress leaders as to why they are reluctant in joining hands with us and are ignoring us. Interestingly,when Khan introduced Surendra Yadav as the state SP president,it created confusion,as the SPs national leader,Amar Singh,had recently made Kanaksinh Mangrola,who has filed his nomination from Bharuch constituency,as the partys state unit president. Khan said: There are differences in every political party,but as far as the question of presidents post is concerned,Surendra Yadav is the seniormost official and he has been nominated to the post by party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
