AHMEDABAD, Feb 4: The Gujarat Congress which had been dilly dallying on the issue of poll alliance with Shankarsinh Vaghela's Rashtriya Janata Party has finally decided that their ``live-in relationship'' with Vaghela is over.Putting the blame squarely on Vaghela, GCC president CD Patel said, ``Enough is enough. Everything between us is over''. The State unit even announced its list for all the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats on Tuesday evening even as a desperate Vaghela was trying to finalise his list of candidates for the polls till late night. Finally, the RJP gave up and announced that it would not declare any list but instead instruct their candidates to go ahead and fill up the forms. The RJP however claimed that this was a part of their strategy. ``We are analysing the Congress and BJP lists and want to place candidates after scrutinising these lists''. However a senior RJP leader admitted, ``Our 14-month-old party which till today was expecting a poll alliance with the Congress, does not havecandidates for all 26 Lok Sabha and 182 Assembly seats. We would not be contesting all the seats'', he said.
The much talked-about poll tie-up between the Congress and RJP was finally called off on Tuesday by the Congress. In a dramatic sequence of events, RJP leader Shankarsinh Vaghela on Sunday evening had announced that he did not want any alliance with the confused and divided Congress. When asked whether it had just been a marriage of convenience for him, Vaghela had quipped, ``The RJP-Congress alliance was never a marriage. It was merely a live-in relationship.''
Less than 12 hours after his announcement of break-off was taken seriously by the party leaders who were in Delhi and the high command, he changed his stance and mellowed down. The Gujarat Congress party chief admitted, ``The RJP again approached us for the alliance. RJP leaders Chief Minister Dilip Parikh and Energy Minister Vipul Chaudhry even offered to fly down to Delhi and meet us. When we came to GUjarat today (Tuesday) morning, theyagain approached us through senior Congress leader BK Gadhvi. But it was too late''.
Patel said it was unfortunate that Vaghela was the one who first announced the break-off without consulting the Congress and then made frantic efforts to revive the alliance. ``The RJP which earlier wanted 10 Lok Sabha seats instead of the nine we had offered was even ready for further negotiations but we have had enough of fluctuations''.
``It is all over now'', Patel clarified adding that Vaghela's statement that he would not field any candidates against ``all his Congress friends who have supported him'' was ludicrous.
Vaghela has publicly announced that he would not field about four candidates for the Lok Sabha poll and at least seven for Vidhan Sabha poll as a reward to all those Congressmen who stood by him during the alliance talks. He has also kept doors open for all other Congressmen who wished to request him not to field any RJP candidate against them.
Dismissing this, Patel said the Congress did not requireany sympathy from Shankarsinh.
``The alliance would have benefited both the Congress and RJP in fighting the BJP but unfortunately it has not worked out'', he commented while releasing the list of Congress candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
