Seat-sharing tussle continues in SP-Cong

Even five days after the announcement of poll alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, tussle over seats continues between the two parties.

 According to sources, both parties had announced their candidates for several seats, where polling will be held on February 11.

Incidentally, Tuesday was the last date to file nominations for the first phase and the names can be withdrawn by Friday.

 The sources said the SP nominee from Deoband Assembly seat in Saharanpur, Maviya Ali is still in fray though it was given to the Congress as the party had won the seat in last year’s bypoll. The Congress has also declared its nominee for the seat.

The situation of Aligarh and Kidwai Nagar seats in Kanpur is similar. Both the parties have nominated their candidates for the seat.

Though the SP and Congress had announced that they would be contesting 298 and 105 seats respectively, the former has declared 324 nominees.

20 Congress seats
Interestingly, there were SP nominees for as many as 20 seats where the Congress had emerged victorious in the 2012 Assembly polls.

The sources in both parties admit that problems still persist over seat-sharing. The situation in Amethi and Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituencies of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, respectively, was also not different. The Congress had staked claim over all the seats in the two districts, but the SP had refused to part with the seats it had won last time.

 The SP has also declared its nominee for Amethi Assembly seat from where Congress Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh’s second wife Amita Singh wants to contest. “It’s my seat and I will contest from here,” Amita said on Thursday. Senior leaders of the two parties said the situation would be clear in the next couple of days. “We will resolve all the issues through discussion,” said SP state unit president Uttam Patel.
DH News Service

Mafia don Ansari gets BSP ticket
Mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who was denied nomination by Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday joined the BSP along with his family members, DHNS reports from Lucknow.

BSP supremo Mayawati promptly nominated Mukhtar — who was lodged in jail on charges of killing BJP legislator Krishnanada Rai — from Mau Assembly seat.

Mukhtar’s son Abbas Ansari and brother Sigbatullah Ansari also secured BSP nominations from Ghosi and Mohamdabad Assembly seats respectively.

Mayawati, who announced their joining at a press conference here, sought to defend Mukhtar saying the cases against him were “politically motivated”.

Although Mukhtar and Sigbatullah had figured in the SP list released earlier by the then state unit president of the party Shivpal Singh Yadav, chief minister Akhilesh refused their nominations after taking charge of the party.