However, the chinks in the INDIA bloc started appearing when Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi failed to reach a seat-sharing arrangement both in Haryana and Maharashtra, the two states where the BJP returned with thumping majority. The two-line appeal by the SP chief for the AAP on Monday in Delhi is being considered as his clear declaration that the SP will prefer Kejriwal’s party over the Congress in the Delhi elections.Within the SP, the general feeling is that the Congress was out to ‘disrespect’ the INDIA bloc allies forcing the regional partners to respond in a different manner. “As allies we fought against the BJP together. We are also sharing the attacks from the BJP despite the fact that it was only the Congress that ruled the Centre and was to be blamed of anything if at all. But the Congress seems to be ignorant of this fact,” said a senior SP functionary.In fact, the rumblings had started during the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections where the SP contested on limited seats because the party never wanted to send across any confusing signals to the voters with regard to the INDIA bloc since the Congress was the senior player there. “But now the Congress wants to play on its terms realising that the next Lok Sabha elections are far,” said a senior SP leader.There is also discontent among the regional members of the INDIA bloc over the manner in which the Congress leaders are pushing to establish Rahul Gandhi as the head of the INDIA bloc when the opposition alliance had elected Mallikarjun Kharge as its chairman. However, it does not suit the SP’s PDA narrative and SP leaders fear that it might annoy the Dalits and cause them to drift away from the party in 2027.
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