With the chances of an alliance between the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) fading in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said that it is up to the Congress to clarify its stand on the alliance among the INDIA bloc partners and whether sharing of seats would be applicable on the state or national level. Speaking in Kanpur, Akhilesh said, “Yeh Congress ko batana padega ki INDIA, Bharat gathbandhan agar desh ke sthar pe hai, toh desh ke sthar pe hai. Agar pradesh ke sthar pe nahi hai, toh bhavishya mein pradesh star pe bhi nahi hoga. Yeh toh Congress ko batana hai, main isme kuch nahi bol sakta (The Congress will have to clarify about the INDIA block. If it is on the national level. If it is not on the state level, then in the future, it will not happen on the state level. I can’t say anything on this because the Congress should clarify on this).” “The (seat-sharing) discussion stretched till 1 am. It didn’t work out so it didn’t work out,” added Akhilesh, referring to the talks between the two parties for the Madhya Pradesh elections. On Sunday, the Congress announced candidates for four of the seven seats in Madhya Pradesh where SP has already declared its candidates. In a strong signal to its INDIA alliance partner, the SP then declared a list of nine more candidates. SP state president for Madhya Pradesh Ramayan Singh Patel told The Indian Express that “all possibilities of an alliance with the Congress are over now”. A senior SP leader considered close to Akhilesh Yadav accused the Congress of not being interested in defeating the BJP. Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson Piyush Babele said the final call on seat sharing would be taken by the party’s high command. Meanwhile, a Congress leader said the SP was trying to get more seats than it was capable of winning. Alleging that a person from the Sikh community was gravely injured by BJP workers in Kanpur, Akhilesh said the ruling party was “so arrogant that they aren’t treating humans like humans”. "Injustice and atrocities are at their peak in the BJP government. BJP has become very arrogant. The BJP government, which talks about zero tolerance towards crime, has given a free hand to its workers to beat up anyone and even take away their eyesight. No matter how much injustice and atrocities they commit on the public, bulldozers will not be used on their houses," the former CM alleged.
