The Congress is willing to have a ‘‘national-level’’ alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that goes beyond ‘‘piecemeal’’ seat ajustments in Maharashtra, and the tentative contours of this alliance are likely to be discussed by Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar when they meet for tea tomorrow, sources indicated today.Apart from meeting Pawar, Sonia may either telephone or visit BSP chief Mayawati to wish her on her birthday tomorrow. While the Congress is yet to formally make a choice between Samajwadi Party and the BSP as a poll ally, the party is ‘‘inching towards the BSP,’’ sources said. In the case of the BSP too, the Congress is willing to look beyond Uttar Pradesh and accommodate the BSP in other states where the Congress is strong.It is the Congress’s willingness to have a ‘‘national-level’’ alliance that has spurred on the NCP leadership—barring Purno Sangma—to opt for a tie-up with the Congress rather than go with the NDA, sources said. The ‘‘national’’ alliance is a euphemism to accommodate NCP’s demands in states outside Maharashtra, particularly Chhattisgarh and Bihar. After the NCP’s national exeuctive committee meeting this evening, Sangma said he and V C Shukla were both against going with the Congress. But NCP sources said Shukla was unlikely to join Sangma in leaving the NCP and join the NDA. Reason: the Congress’s readiness to leave at least two Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh for NCP leaders V C Shukla and Arvind Netam as part of the package deal. Similarly, Tariq Anwar—who with Pawar and Sangma—left the Congress to form the NCP has also been promised a Lok Sabha seat in Bihar as part of the RJD-led secular alliance. RJD chief Laloo Yadav is believed to have given this assurance to Pawar when the two met a few days ago. If the Congress and BSP agree to fight the elections together, the Congress would leave a few seats for the BSP in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. In these states, the Congress is still the biggest party and can afford to go it alone. But it would be far more generous in sharing seats even in its strong states than it was during the Assembly elections held in December.Congress leaders, who till recently preferred to go it alone except in states where the party was weak, are now united in their belief that only a national alliance that involves ‘‘give and take’’ can work to their advantage.‘‘It is not a question of Sonia Gandhi being generous with potential allies—it is a question of pragmatic politics,’’ said one Congressman. Another leader pointed out that in order to take on the NDA, the Congress must build a similar all-India alliance that included a range of ‘‘secular’’ parties.The Congress is going about it in three phases, a senior CWC member said. The first stage is to tie up alliances; the second to work out nitty gritty seat adjustments, and the third and final stage is finalise a common minimum programme ‘‘if other allies want it.’’
