TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With the fate of nearly half of the Lok Sabha locked in EVMs, Congress thinks it is knocking on an overall figure of 160, an estimate which has put the party on the trail of two big allies — possibly Left and SP.
AICC strategists feel they have done well in the first two phases which accounted for 265 seats. According to them, the party would get 55 seats in the first phase and around 60 in the second. There is optimism that Congress will better its 2004 score by a substantial number, touching the 160-mark while emerging as the singlelargest party.
As a result, Congress is getting ready to do business with SP and Left, two formations with which it has not had a smooth relationship in the runup to polls. If there is anxiety over allies, it comes from the prognosis that Congress will no longer have big-tally partners like RJD or DMK which made up for a big chunk of 272 MPs of UPA. Coupled with Left’s announcement that it would bat for a non-BJP, non-Congress regime, AICC is gearing up for tough negotiations.
The problem, besides convincing the Left for a revival of 2004-type alliance, is who is to be roped in to replace DMK and RJD, two parties which are likely to shed numbers in a big way. SP is seen as the way to go. The choice of Mulayam Singh Yadav, estimated to be getting a 20-plus tally, is interesting as the two parties have had a bitter falling out after failing to arrive at a seat-sharing arrangement. Mulayam’s bargaining is also a matter of concern for insiders, but it is now acknowledged that compromises this time, unlike 2004, would be big. Congress also has the choice of AIADMK and JD(U) while BJD is ruled out owing to direct rivalry in Orissa. AICC is not comfortable about the prospect of having to do business with AIADMK and feels Jayalalithaa would not give the kind of consistent backing offered by DMK in the last five years. “But we may not have a choice,” said a leader.
Joining hands with Jayalalithaa would mean pulling out of DMK-led coalition in TN. While it would bring down the Karunanidhi regime, it may not be an insurance against AIADMK chief’s maverick ways. There is seen to be a willingness in JD(U) to cross over if NDA is ruled out as a player at the Centre, but leaders say that Nitish Kumar would be averse to such an alignment if he sees a revival in Congress fortunes in Bihar in its solo run.