New Delhi : The widening rift in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family will cost the ruling Samajwadi Party dearly in the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and some of its senior leaders are in touch with Congress to join it, said Congress Chief Ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit.
Dikshit, a three-time Chief Minister of Delhi, said the cracks in SP will benefit Congress as those unhappy with goings on in that party do not have much choice but to come to Congress’ fold. Confident of an impressive performance by Congress in the Assembly polls in the politically crucial state where the party has been out of power for 27 years, she said some of the SP MLAs and mid-level leaders were also in touch with Congress. “There are a lot people wanting to come to the Congress, certainly because they cannot go to BJP or BSP,” she told PTI in an interview. Asked whether some senior leaders of SP are in touch with the Congress, 78-year-old Dikshit said they are a mixture of senior, mid-level and local leaders.
“Those who are disappointed with the reputation that SP has picked up are definitely looking for alternative and the alternative is Congress,” she said adding “a lot” of SP MLAs are also trying to get in touch with Congress.
“Many of them are in touch already. Openly they are not doing it now,” she said. The SP has been grappling with internal rift mainly due to differences between party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shivpal Yadav and his son, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The elections in the state are due early next year,
