New Delhi: Amid reports that the SP and the BSP might leave the Congress out from an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said Sunday if his party is excluded from the coalition in the state, any nationwide anti-BJP front will be "weakened" and it may lead to a "stillborn situation".
Khurshid said cobbling together a grand alliance in UP will be the "trickiest" exercise for all opposition parties in the state and asserted it was crucial for the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to join forces to put up a formidable challenge against the BJP.
In an interview to PTI, the former UP Congress chief said the situation in the state was "fluid" and party chief Rahul Gandhi was taking a "cautiously optimistic view", while keeping his "mind and heart open" for alliances for the 2019 general election.
Asked about reports that the SP and the BSP may leave out the Congress from the alliance in UP, Khurshid said, "I think it is a little bit of posturing, but I can't say for sure...I have no reason to believe it to be true or not to be true, but it will be myopic if the Congress is kept out of the alliance in UP because it may have an impact on the larger alliance nationwide."
"If UP does not contribute in a wholesome manner to the larger alliance nationwide then the alliance nationwide itself will get weakened and it may cause a stillborn situation," he said. The 65-year-old leader expressed optimism over forging of the grand alliance in the state and said it will be the best thing that can happen to the Indian politics.
"Each one of us will have to give and take, there can't be just a take-take or give-give position. So, with a give and take of the right kind among all four of us, we will put up a good fight to the BJP. If it doesn't happen, it will be a historic loss," the former Union minister asserted.
Khurshid's remarks come amid reports claiming that the BSP and the SP were getting ready to announce their Lok Sabha tie-up without the Congress. The Congress has dismissed the reports as "rumours".
The BSP too had denied the reports that the party would formally announce the tie-up on January 15, party chief Mayawati's birthday.
However, the BSP and the SP neither attended the joint Opposition meet chaired by Sonia Gandhi on December 10, nor the recent swearing-in ceremonies of the Congress chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
In response to a question, he said forging a grand alliance will be the "trickiest" in UP as compared to other states not just for his party but for all the parties. On whether the Congress was poised for resurgence in UP following victories in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Khurshid sounded optimistic but asserted UP was a different ball game altogether as the party has been out of power there for a very long time.
Because of regional parties, the Congress has been squeezed out in the state and it was a "steeper climb" in UP than in the other states, he said.
"You can't expect overnight impact which would be enough for us to be able to have a very significant substantial presence (in UP)...in UP," he said.