NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh is said to be seriously exploring the possibility of mid-term polls after the Rajya Sabha elections this month. The Congress and BJP are not ruling out this possibility after realising that Mr Yadav has consolidated his support base among minorities and Yadavs by successfully converting the cartoon issue into anti-Bush and thereby anti-Manmohan Singh government, they said.

“Muslims are unlikely to shift to the Bahujan Samaj Party after the recent Lucknow protest rally while Brahmins are in double mind,” Congress and BJP sources said, conceding that the national parties neither have the issue nor the leadership to make a dent in the Samajwadi Party’s political constituency. Interestingly, a BSP MP predicted that the Congress would be confined to two to four constituencies if the Lok Sabha elections are held in this atmosphere.

If Mr Yadav dissolves the state Assembly this month, then the Election Commission would have to hold the poll within six months. But it cannot hold this in July, August and September due to the rainy season. Therefore, June could be the ideal month for the election.

While the Congress, as of now, is finding it difficult to attract minorities and upper caste Hindus, the BJP has not been able to polarise voters in the state. And dalits, backwards have already been backing the BSP and Samajwadi Party. According to the sources, Mr Yadav would nominate a Muslim, a dalit and a Yadav to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and leave a seat to the CPI(M) before taking a decision for snap polls.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed eight in charges for eight zones in the state only after foreseeing the possibility of a mid-term poll which could be held under Mr Yadav. On the other hand, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is contemplating to meet prominent Muslim leaders to remove misgivings about the government’s policies. According to a section of the Congress, the UP CM is not down and recovering fast from the anti-incumbency factor.

“Mulayam Singh would not give his rival parties enough time to consolidate their support base,” they said. The Congress leadership hopes to improve in the state with the help of a new team of zonal in charges: Raashid Alvi (Saharanpur-Meerut divisions), Sanjay Singh (Moradabad-Bareilly), Nirmal Khatri (Allahabad-Mirzapur), Raj Bahadur (Varanasi-Azamgarh), Ram Pujan Patel (Gorakhpur-Basti-Devipatan), Reeta Bahuguna-Joshi (Lucknow-Faizabad), R.P.N. Singh (Kanpur-Agra) and Rajeshpati Tripathi (Jhansi-Chitrakoot).—By arrangement with The Asianage