JALANDHAR: The decision of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance to field two BSP candidates from three Lok Sabha seats in Doaba region, has rung alarm bells in Congress circles, which has begun an exercise to study the impact of this alliance,

Out of the three parliamentary constituencies of Doaba region namely Jalandhar, Phillaur and Hoshiarpur, the BSP candidates will be contesting Phillaur and Hoshiarpur seats, where Rayidass, belonging to the Scheduled Castes, has a substantial presence, The choice of Congress candidates for these two seats is, therefore, likely to be dictated by their parental, to attract crucial votes, say senior party observers. Veteran Congress leaders from the area are currently assess in the possibility of success of SAD BSP alliance and are expected to present their findings at the PPCC meeting to be held at Delhi. Presently, both the sitting Congress MPs, namely Santosh Chowdhary from Phillaur and Kamal Chowdhury from Hoshiarpur, belong to the Scheduled Castes. However, with the announcement of the BSP supremo Kanshi Ram to contest from Hoshiarpur, retaining that seat is expected to be a tough fight for the Congress. Out of the nine assembly constituencies falling in Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency, three are with BSP, four with the Congress and the remaining two with the BJP.

In the Phillaur parliamentary constituency, five assembly seats falling in the constituency are with the Congress, three with the BSP and one with the Akalis. In view of this, the choice of candidates that the ruling party makes for these seats will be watched with interest The district Congress Commit tees are scheduled to submit their panel of recommendations to the PPCC which will further shortlist the names and forward it to the AICC. Meanwhile, a section of Akalis in this acca, are unhappy with the, decision of the party leadership to give Doaba seals to BSP and are in favor of “It would have been better if the SAD had opted to help the BSP in other states in return for seal adjustments with them in the assembly elections, “says a senior Akali leader, A meeting of Akali Dal workers was also held under the president ship of Sarabjit Singh Jammu where it was resolved to ask the party president Prakash Singh Badal to reconsider the decision of seat adjustment with BSP as “this would amount to sacrificing the interests of the Doaba religion” and expressed the fear of Akalis losing a substantial chunk of its vote ‘bank because of this.

Article extracted from this publication >>  April 3, 1996