Cracks in Samajwadi Party to benefit Congress, says Sheila Dikshit

Congress Chief Ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit hinted out that some senior leaders from ruling Samajwadi Party may join Congress, amid the growing rift in the Samajwadi Party.

Dikshit on Sunday said, that problems in Yadav's family will cost them  dearly in the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and some of its senior leaders are in touch with Congress to join it.

Dikshit, a three-time Chief Minister of Delhi, said the cracks in SP will benefit Congress as those unhappy withgoings on in that party do not have much choice but to come toCongress' fold. Confident of an impressive performance by Congress in theAssembly polls in the politically crucial state where theparty has been out of power for 27 years, she said some of theSP MLAs and mid-level leaders were also in touch withCongress. "There are a lot people wanting to come to the Congress,certainly because they cannot go to BJP or BSP," she said.

Asked whether some senior leaders of SP are in touch withthe Congress, 78-year-old Dikshit said they are a mixture of senior, mid-level and local leaders. "Those who are disappointed with the reputation that SPhas picked up are definitely looking for alternative and thealternative is Congress," she said adding "a lot" of SP MLAsare also trying to get in touch with Congress. "Many of them are in touch already. Openly they are notdoing it now," she said. The SP has been grappling with internal rift mainly dueto differences between party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Shivpal Yadav and his son, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The elections in the state are due early next year, Amid the feud, Mulayam on Friday had said the SP's chief ministerial candidate will be decided by party legislatorsafter the 2017 assembly elections, if the party manages toform government again. The announcement is seen as a setbackto Akhilesh who was recently removed as president of SP'sstate president. "Of course it (rift in SP) will help. It will be harmfulfor them because it is the party in power. All the scandalsand differences are not going to help them," said Dikshit. About Congress' preparations for the polls, the veteran Congress leader said the party has been revived to a greatextent across the state and people's expectations from ithave now grown significantly.