The BSP appears open to a tieup with the Congress if there is a hung Assembly. BSP strategists feel its 18 Rajya Sabha MPs could provide much-needed stability to the UPA, now struggling to pass key legislation in the Upper House over the confrontationist line by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress.
The BSP’s Plan B, however, is to use President’s Rule, if it is imposed, to hammer out a face-saving alibi for a pact with the BJP. “We feel the BSP and Samajwadi Party will share about 260 seats, with the SP winning 135 and BSP 125, or vice versa,” a highly placed BSP source said. “The SP will then not find it easy to form a government.”
The BSP’s Plan A appears to be to seek support from the Congress, RLD and Independents, with an understanding on simultaneous elections to the UP Assembly along with the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. “With 19 Lok Sabha MPs and 18 Rajya Sabha MPs, the BSP is a much better bet for the Congress to ensure the UPA can carry out its programme for the next two years. The BSP will give a free run to the UPA at the Centre,” the source added. But if the SP gets above 150 seats, Ms Mayawati will not try to form a government.