Dharmendra Yadav: ‘SP's alliance with Congress intact in UP … When was Imran Masood given the power to make calls on seat sharing?'
Masood was referring to the seat-sharing arrangement for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that saw the Congress contest 17 of UP's 80 parliamentary seats, while the rest went to the SP. The parties reaped the benefits of the alliance, with the alliance outperforming the BJP-led NDA. But the road to the seat-sharing agreement was mired in tension, which came to the fore during the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in October 2023.
The SP's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Dharmendra Yadav, who is also party chief Akhilesh Yadav's cousin, speaks to The Indian Express about the alliance with the Congress, the INDIA bloc's future, and the government's announcement of the caste census, among other issues. Excerpts:
* Some leaders, including Congress leader P Chidambaram, have questioned whether the INDIA bloc is still together. What is your view on this?
I think the alliance is doing a very good job as the Opposition in the country. The alliance is playing a positive and constructive role… The bloc has never done negative politics.
* The government has decided to include caste data in the next Census. It has also announced the timeline for the Census.
The government has caved to the pressure from the Samajwadi Party. In 2011, when the last Census was done, the party had demanded caste data to be included. The honourable Mulayam Singh Yadav was among us then, and he had also raised the demand for caste to be included in the Census. Other leaders, Sharad Yadav and Lalu Prasad, and the entire Opposition were demanding a caste census. The caste census has been announced because of the movement led by the Samajwadi Party … This is a win for our struggle.
* How is the SP preparing for the 2027 UP Assembly elections?
It is going very well. People trust the party and our leader Akhilesh Yadav. The issues of the PDA — Pichhde (backward classes), Dalits, and Alpsankhyak (minorities) — are being raised. The people of UP have realised the future of the state lies in Akhilesh Yadav's leadership. People are unhappy with the current BJP government. Unemployment and corruption are at their peak, the law-and-order situation is at its worst, and the youth and farmers are struggling.
* In the 2022 Assembly elections, the SP formed an umbrella alliance with smaller parties. Those parties have left the SP. Will there be a similar umbrella alliance in 2027?
I feel the whole PDA family is with us. All sections of society are looking at Akhilesh Yadav with hope. You are right, there was an alliance in 2022 with smaller parties. But after the elections, when we couldn't form the government, these parties deserted us, and that is in front of the people. For 2027, when public support is with us, it is not important which parties are with us and which aren't.
* Your alliance with the Congress made a significant impact in the Lok Sabha polls. But, before the elections, and since then too, there has been some tension. You supported the AAP in Delhi. Are there problems between the two parties?
The INDIA bloc's fundamental principle was that it would go with the strongest party in the states. In Delhi, naturally, the AAP was the main Opposition party. It was in power. Today, too, they are in the Opposition in Delhi, but they are stronger than the Congress. The decision to support the AAP was as per that principle of the INDIA bloc.
But this will have no impact on UP politics. Our alliance in UP is with the Congress and I have 100% hope that it will continue. And there will be a majority government of the INDIA bloc under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav in UP … If anyone is fighting for the people, it is the SP and Akhilesh Yadav. I have full faith that the Congress will help us form the government in the state.
* Recently, Congress MP Imran Masood said the '80-17 formula' won't work in 2027. He said the SP won't decide the seats that the Congress will contest.
I believe that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi can take such a decision. I don't know when the Congress gave Masood the power to make such calls. The top leadership of the Congress will decide based on the ground reality.
* How many seats will the SP be willing to leave for the Congress?
Akhilesh Yadav will decide that. We are Samajwadis, we follow our leader … Those falling into the BJP's trap can speculate on such things. We won't fall into these traps.
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