Senior Congress parliamentarian from Guna in poll-bound state Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia is of the opinion that the party is ‘still in the driver’s seat’. The above comments from the Congressman came after Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati decided to walk solo in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Spearheading the Congress campaign in the state, Scindia in an interview with PTI stated that the party and its cadres are “working cohesively” to dislodge the BJP government after “14 years of misrule”. Asked on the aftereffects of BSP walking solo and chances of votes sharing being segregated, Scindia said, “I don’t think so. Obviously, the alliance would have had its own benefits, but as things stand today, support for the Congress is running deep in Madhya Pradesh. The workers are motivated and the people are looking to us for change. So, we are definitely still in the driver’s seat.”
The Guna MP stated that though Mayawati chose to walk alone, Congress is still in talks with other regional parties and all possibilities are being thought of. He said, as quoted by the news agency, “We are in touch with all possible partners — our ultimate goal is to beat the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are not currently ruling out the possibility of an alliance.” It is speculated that Congress is planning to align with Samajwadi Party and Gondwana Gantantra Party.
Asked about the planning of coalition with the regional parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Scindia stated that there is time left for that to think, but reiterated his old opinion. He said that every party should come together to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party, as people are angry with both the state and Union government. Madhya Pradesh state Assembly elections will take place on November 28 and the results be be out on December 11.
ALSO READ: Telangana Assembly elections: Opposition follows wait and watch policy on seat sharing