All attempts to forge a Fourth Front comprising of non-BJP, non-SP, non-BSP parties in Uttar Pradesh have formally come to an end. This could also be an indication of the Congress’ attitude towards political alliances in the future.MP Rahul Gandhi, who is firmly in control of the party’s strategy in the state, is not in favour of making concessions to build alliances and believes contesting alone will strengthen the party. This is in contrast to Sonia Gandhi’s extraordinary moves that built the party’s pre-poll alliances of 2004—she had walked to neighbour Ram Vilas Paswan’s house to talk it out. Then, the party made major concessions and contested only four out of the 40 seats in Bihar. However, with Rahul gradually increasing his hold over the party, the Congress’ post-Shimla strategy to build alliances and stay relevant could be up for amends. “I am not for or against alliances per se. An alliance should help the party. It cannot be a sell out,” Gandhi said during his informal interaction with journalists during the Western UP roadshow. An influential section of the party has been articulating a similar point of view for some time. The believe in states where the party is weak, contesting elections alone can be a means to rebuild the organisation. With the Congress announcing 336 candidates out of the 403 constituencies it is all set to go alone save a local alliance with Bahujan Kisan Dal (BKD), the political wing of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in Western UP. Talks with V P Singh, Raj Babbar and Ajit Singh have failed. In fact, Rahul Gandhi was initially reluctant to talk alliance at all, but acceded to opinion within the party—Arjun Singh had publicly called for alliances. But soon, he found Ajit Singh’s demands unreasonable and called off negotiations. Congress was expected to be the fulcrum of a fourth front in UP, but now smaller parties are all going their own ways. Even the Jan Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will have no alliance between them. However, Janmorcha may sew up a coalition of parties such as UDF, LJP and CPI. Jan Morcha leader V P Singh will begin his campaign in Mulayam Singh’s constituency Gunnaur or March 31 and campaign every alternate day. With none other than Rahul Gandhi declaring that the party has to stand alone, more can expected vis-à-vis alliance politics. A brainstorming of the party is also likely, on the lines of Shimla-2002, after the UP elections.
