NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party and Congress have set up a coordination panel aimed at providing a mechanism to regulate relations and sort out issues with both parties viewing each other as allies who will face the next general elections as part of the same political formation.
The coordination panel will have Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony while the SP will be represented by its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his associate and party general secretary Amar Singh. The panel is expected to meet when necessary.
To start with, the two parties will have to tackle the seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh where Congress will have to leave a lion's share to the SP. But besides the numerical split, identifying constituencies will be a task as both eye favourite boroughs. With the two now committed to taking on BSP chief Mayawati and BJP, the newly aligned partners have to settle their claims.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Amar Singh are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss seat-sharing in UP. The two are also likely to discuss a pre-poll alliance that the new-found allies are keen to forge to counter Mayawati's threat.
There are policy issues regarding the government that may need to be sorted out as well. The SP has a definite laundry list that it will expect the government to respond to. The Samajwadis have not been shy of pointing out that they "need power" to oppose a rampaging Mayawati in UP besides also dealing with investigations launched by the courts against the SP leaders.
Source : Times Of India
Saturday, August 23, 2008
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