[Reproduced below is the news report that the Congress and the SP have clinched a pre-poll tie-up at the very last moment, so to say. The SP, in Maharashtra, is understandably the political legatee of the Muslim League and consequently its support bases are confined to a few urban pockets, and mainly among north Indian Muslims. Btw, during the last LS poll the SP and the the Prakash Ambedkar led Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh had publicly announced their decision to go together when the assembly poll comes. That decision has apparently fallen by the wayside.]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Congress-joins-hands-with-Samajwadi-Party-in-Maharashtra-eyes-Muslim-votes/articleshow/43512018.cms Congress joins hands with Samajwadi Party in Maharashtra, eyes Muslim votes Mohammed Wajihuddin,TNN | Sep 26, 2014, 01.15 PM IST MUMBAI: The Congress has entered into an alliance with Samajawadi Party in Maharasthra to contest the forthcoming assembly elections, in a bid to get a major chunk of Muslim votes in the state. The agreement was sealed late on Thursday night at a meeting attended by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, MPCC president Manikrao Thakeray, minority affairs minister Naseem Khan from the Congress and state SP unit chief Abu Asim and party spokesperson Abdul Qadir Chaudhary. READ ALSO: Shiv Sena-BJP, Congress-NCP alliances snap; it's a 5-cornered fight in Maharashtra As per the deal, Samajwadi Party will contest on 8 seats. SP had originally demanded 10 assembly seats. "We didn't hard sell our share in the seats as we want to stop the saffron parties from coming to power in the state. The alliance will send a positive message and stop the split in the Muslim votes," said SP general secretary and the party's spokesperson Abdul Qadir Chaudhary. Much before the Congress-NCP started their negotiations over seat-sharing, SP's state unit chief and MLA Abu Asim Azmi wrote to senior Congress leaders offering to form an alliance. READ ALSO: NCP leaves Cong hours after saffron split, Ajit Pawar and Chavan exchange fire The Congress dithered as long as it hoped to form a pre-poll alliance once again with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. But after the Congress-NCP alliance broke on Thursday, the Congress reached out to SP inviting its leaders for negotiations on the alliance. Observers feel that if SP succeeded in stopping the split of Muslim votes, it would benefit the Congress. READ ALSO: Is saffron party's move aimed at post-poll tie-up with NCP? "Congress will be the biggest beneficiary if Muslims vote en block to Congress-SP alliance candidates," said senior social worker Ghulam Peshimam. However, the Majlise Ittihadul Muslameen (MIM) might play a spoilsport for the two parties as it is determined to field candidates in the constituencies with good Muslim population. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
