post-poll posturing gained momentum Thursday

New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) With just under 10 days left for
results of India's general elections, post-poll posturing
gained momentum Thursday with Samajwadi party setting
conditions for their support while attempts were made to clear
the air on Congress' ties with DMK and Trinamool.

Rival alliances -- United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) -- also voiced optimism in
winning new allies to shore up their numbers.

Though the general refrain was that all post-poll
arithmetic can wait until May 16 when the votes will be
counted, major players conjured possible scenarios with the
Lok Sabha elections projected to throw up a hung House.

The Samajwadi Party said it may be "forced" to have a
post-poll alliance with Congress but indicated that it would
not be without conditions as the party wanted the Mayawati
government in Uttar Pradesh to be dismissed.

"We will support whoever dismisses the Mayawati
government in Uttar Pradesh," SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav
said. The Congress quickly rejected the demand.

Yadav's colleague Amar Singh said, "Since we cannot go
with the Third Front as Mayawati is already there, for the
sake of secularism, we may be forced to look at Congress."

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit hinted at post-poll
tie-ups for Congress with parties like Janata Dal-United and
All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) while BJP
president Rajnath Singh said his party is engaged in talks
with several parties about post-poll alliances.

Following Rahul Gandhi's overtures to AIADMK which
ruffled the DMK, Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was
rushed to Chennai where he said Congress's ties with
Karunanidhi's party was "firm and enduring" and strong enough
to win resoundingly. Tamil Nadu goes to polls in the final
phase on May 13.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said Rahul's
olive branch to the Left for a post-poll tie-up did not hurt
the alliance between the two parties in West Bengal.

"The TC-Congress alliance is intact and there is no
adverse impact on the alliance by Rahul Gandhi's comments.
There is no confusion on the alliance", Mamata told PTI, a day
after the firebrand leader reportedly made a threat to walk
out of UPA if the estranged partners came together after the
Lok Sabha polls.

CPI-M set off a buzz when Sitaram Yechury made ambiguous
remarks over Rahul's overtures to Left parties that they will
decide on whom to support after the vote count fuelling
speculation that it may be in two minds. But party chief
Prakash Karat clearly said the Left was working to form a
non-Congress secular government at the Centre.

Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit
did not rule out a post-poll tieup with AIADMK's Jayalalithaa.

Asked whether options for tie up with the AIADMK were
open, the senior Congress leader said "it all depends on how
many seats Congress gets".

To a specific query whether such a tie-up was possible
with AIADMK, she quipped "yes".

The NDA strategy was outlined by BJP chief Rajnath Singh
when he said, "If by any chance we fall short of majority,
talks are going on with many parties."

On another front within the NDA, Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar firmly ruled out aligning with the Congress in
the backdrop of Rahul's praise of him seen as an attempt to
woo the JD(U). "We(JD-U and BJP) are in an alliance in Bihar.
It is an alliance government, We don't think beyond that.
There is no no question of quitting the NDA." PTI TEAM
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