Akhilesh Yadav Yadav said if the alliance was only for parliamentary elections, his party accepted it. But he threw hints that there would be problems for Congress when seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh is discussed for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday blasted INDIA bloc partner Congress’ Uttar Pradesh unit president Ajay Rai over his remarks on seat-sharing in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls as cracks appeared in Opposition alliance which hopes to present a united front against the BJP juggernaut in next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Dubbing Rai as a “chirkut” (small time) politician, Akhilesh Yadav said the Congress leadership should not allow its “small leaders” to comment on his party. “I want to tell the Congress, don’t talk about our party through your ‘chirkut‘ leaders.”

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said his party leaders wouldn’t have picked calls from the Congress for a meeting in Madhya Pradesh had he known that the INDIA alliance was confined to the national level.

“Our party leaders wouldn’t even have picked calls from the Congress or attended the meeting if we had known that there was no alliance in INDIA at the assembly level. We would have also not given the list to the people of Congress,” Yadav said.

The SP leader’s stinging remarks have exposed the chinks in the opposition INDIA bloc as Yadav blasted the local Congress leadership for “cheating” the SP.

“I must have got confused,” he told reporters in Sitapur, apparently in sarcasm.

‘Expect tit-for-tat treatment in UP’

Yadav said if the alliance was only for parliamentary elections, his party accepted it. But he threw hints that there would be problems for Congress when seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh is discussed for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“If the alliance in UP is only for the Centre, it will be discussed at that time. And the manner in which the Samajwadi Party is treated, they will get to see the same treatment here.”

On the upcoming Madhya Pradesh polls, he said, “Had I known on the first day that there is no alliance at the Vidhan Sabha level, our party leaders wouldn’t have gone to the meetings. We wouldn’t have given them a list (of seats that the SP wanted to contest in MP), nor would we have picked their calls,” he added.

The SP has so far declared its candidates on 31 seats for the November 17 elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

When asked why it has done so, Yadav said, “If there is no alliance at the state level, we accept it and declare our party candidates. What’s wrong in what we have done?”

He said SP leaders gave the Congress leaders data related to the party’s performance in previous Madhya Pradesh elections at the discussions that went on till 1 am.

He claimed the Congress leaders had said they were considering leaving six constituencies for SP nominees in a seat-sharing agreement in that state, but they did not concede even one.

The INDIA grouping came into being primarily to put up a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh elections, the SP won one seat (Bijawar in Bundelkhand region) and finished second on five, securing 1.30 per cent votes in alliance with tribal Gondwana Gantantra Party.

What Ajay Rai said?

Earlier today UP Congress chief Ajay Rai apparently ruffled Akhilesh Yadav with his comments on seat-sharing in Madhya Pradesh, saying that SP must extend unquestioned support to Congress in the poll-bound state if they are part of INDIA.

“If  he (Akhilesh Yadav) are a part of the INDIA alliance, then you will have to see what the situation is in each state. In Madhya Pradesh, there is a fight between Congress and the BJP, so SP should be supportive (to Congress). They only had one MLA and he also joined the BJP,” Rai said.

Responding to Akhilesh’s “chirkut” jibe, Rai said: “I am a common man. He can use whatever word he wants. I am a small party worker of the Congress… I accept every word he (Akhilesh Yadav) uses for me.”

Rai requested Yadav to support the Congress if INDIA wants to defeat the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

(With PTI inputs)