Rahul Gandhi favours Congress' solo foray in states

(Source: www.ibnlive.com)

As the Congress and the SP move towards tying up to push the nuclear deal through, Rahul Gandhi has said that he is in favour of Congress going alone in the states.

It has been the political alliance of  the year: Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh breaking bread with Sonia Gandhi nine years after the Samajwadi Party raised the foreign origins issue to deny her Prime Ministership.

While Mrs Gandhi may have agreed to an alliance over the Indo-US nuclear deal, son Rahul has his reservations. Sources in the Congress told that at a Friday evening meeting of  the Congress's future challenges group, Rahul was sceptical of  the need for state level alliances. That's a line that has been also echoed by the Antony Committee report which was asked to look at the Congress's strategy for the next elections.

According to sources, Rahul said, "Congress needs to assert its own identity. It loses its identity when it ties up with other parties. We need to strengthen our organisation."

Most observers see this as a clear sign that Rahul is not keen on a tie up with the Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh. SP leader Amar Singh is also playing safe. He told that his party was not looking for an election alliance with the Congres.

Amar Singh, General Secretary, SP also denied reports that the Samajwadi party was eyeing cabinet berths.
 
So for now, both the Congress and the SP seem keen to play down suggestions that a tie-up could extend beyond support for the nuclear deal. With general elections not too far away and with Mayawati a dominant presence in UP, both Rahul Gandhi and Amar Singh will not find it easy to resist the temptation of strking a deal at the polls too.