SP in touch with Congress for Madhya Pradesh tie-up, final call to be made: Surjewala

The Samajwadi Party is in touch with Kamal Nath for an electoral tie-up with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh but a final decision will be taken by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Rahul Gandhi in consultation with the state leadership, Congress General Secretary and Madhya Pradesh in-charge Randeep Surjewala said on Monday.

Though not a major force in MP, the SP has some influence in districts bordering UP, especially in the Bundelkhand and Chambal belts. The negotiations in MP will also have an impact in Uttar Pradesh, where the SP is a major political force and Congress is a minor player in the state.

"The Congress is capable of fighting all the 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh on its own and we are doing that. There is no discussion (on any alliance so far). It is true that SP leaders are in touch with Kamal Nath. If there is any change in the situation, we will let you know," Surjewala told reporters here.

He said that Kharge and Rahul, in consultation with state president Kamal Nath and Leader of Opposition Govind Singh, will take a call on the alliance if needed. "Kamal Nath is in touch with other parties. If there is a change in our stand, we will let you know. As of today, we are ready to fight in all 230 seats. Kharge-ji and Rahul-ji will guide us and a decision will be taken either way in consultation with the state leadership," Surjewala said.

In 2018, the SP had contested 52 seats in MP and won one seat, Bijawar. Altogether, the SP polled 1.3% votes. If one counts only the 52 seats where it contended, the SP's vote share was 6.26%, though its candidates lost deposit in 45 seats where it could not garner one-sixth of votes.

Referring to Narendra Modi's rally in Madhya Pradesh, Surjewala alleged the Prime Minister did not mention even a single scheme run by Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government. Calling the programme a "flop show", he said that the BJP could not even gather 50,000 people.

On Modi's appeal to youngsters, Surjewala said the question is what first-time voters have witnessed growing up in Madhya Pradesh. "They have only seen the Vyapam scam, paper-leak scam, nursing college scam. They have seen 26,000 schools without electricity connection," he claimed.

He also alleged that 44 lakh beneficiaries of the 'Ujjwala' scheme did not even refill their LPG cylinders due to a "Modi-sponsored price rise".