Samajwadi Party ready for alliance with BSP, UKD in Uttarakhand

The Samajwadi Party is approaching regional outfits Bahujan Samaj Party and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal to counter the BJP in Uttarakhand in the next year’s parliamentary elections.

Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav will be presiding over a mega convention of the party workers at Uddham Singh Nagar on August 31, said the party leaders.

He will also give election campaign responsibilities to the party leaders as well as hold talks with like-minded alliance partners in the hill state, said Rajendra Singh Chaudhary, a cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav-led former SP government.

“SP has no hesitation in allying with Mayawati-led BSP as the main objective of Mahgatbandhan (mega alliance of parties) is to ensure communal BJP’s ouster from power,” said Chaudhary, citing the success of SP-BSP-RLD combination in Kairana, Phulphur and Gorakhpur bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

“We will be contesting all five parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand, but we are open to have alliance with like-minded parties, even with UKD. We have to forget our past if we have to ensure non-BJP mega alliance wins in 2018 general election. It was Mulayam Singh Yadav who had played vital role in creation of separate Uttarakhand in 90s. Besides, Akhilesh Yadav’s wife hails from Pauri Garhwal district of the hill state. So, we are sure both, people and local outfits, will also come with us,” he said.

Though, SP is opening its doors, UKD will find it hard to accept its offer, as the latter had been vocal against SP. UKD had blamed SP for the Muzzafarnagar-Rampur Tiraha massacre in October 1994 when Delhi-bound separate hill state agitators were forcibly stopped by the UP police and several agitators lost their lives and many women agitators were molested. This incident turned the then non-violent protest agitation into a violent and more forceful one, which led to Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda announcing from the rampart of Red Fort on August 15, 1996, formation of separate Uttarakhand.

When Uttarakhand was finally created on November, 9, 2000, UKD was given major credit for the separate state achievement and, as a result, the party had won four seats in the first state assembly elections held in 2002. But due to factionalism, UKD failed to emerge as a strong regional outfit. At present, UKD has no legislator in the 70-member state assembly and it is looking out to SP-BSP-Communist alliance to make a comeback.

“Both BJP and Congress have ruled the state twice, but both have failed to usher in development. Instead, mass corruption has prevailed in the state. Mega alliance at national level can be recreated in Uttarakhand too. Our central leadership has to decide on this. But yes, if we have to restore UKD’s lost base in the state; we have to ally with CPI, BSP or even SP in interest of hill people,” said Uday Ram Semwal, a senior UKD leader.

Interestingly, SP had one legislator from Uttarakhand in the interim government when Uttarakhand was created, but has subsequently failed to open its tally in all the four assembly elections so far.

The then SP legislator Ambrish Kumar, who is now in the Congress, said that only under Congress leadership can any alliance succeed. “UKD, SP and BSP have not a single legislator in the state assembly. So, it’s too early to say anything on this aspect,” he added.

Recently, in a party cadre meeting in Haridwar, BSP Uttarakhand in-charge and national general secretary Ram Achal Rajbhar had also hinted on replicating the bypoll alliance strategy in Uttarkahand too. “Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are neighboring states and have much in common, which influences the political environment in both the states. So, same political-election arithmetic can also be applied in hill state,” Rajbhar had remarked.

“UP bypolls are just a teaser, we will replicate the same on 85 seats of UP-UK, just all non-BJP parties come at one banner and support mega alliance candidates,” said Kunwar Durgesh Pratap, a senior Samajwadi leader.