The anxiety in the Congress to credit Rahul Gandhi with the successful stitching up of the Grand Alliance with Samajwadi Party — amid reports of his sister Priyanka Vadra playing the lead role — was matched by the BJP’s eagerness on Monday to signal doom for the Congress vice-president’s political career.

The BJP took a swipe at Rahul, claiming that he desperately needed an alliance with the SP to save his political career. “This (SP-Congress alliance) shows that Rahul Gandhi needs Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘cycle’ to save his political career, while Junior Yadav knows that his misrule of five years will haunt him in these elections,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told a press conference here.

The Congress sought to dispel the notion that it was not Rahul but Priyanka who sealed the alliance with the SP. “Who is leading the party? There should be not be any speculation. Rahul Gandhi is leading the charge,” said the party’s media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The SP today fielded Aparna Yadav, wife of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second son Prateek, from the Lucknow (Cantonment) seat as it released its fourth list, comprising 31 candidates, for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

The party gave ticket to Rajesh Kushwaha from Ghazipur in place of sitting MLA and minister Vijay Mishra. Former minister Shadab Fatima, close to SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who was sacked by Akhilesh, was also denied ticket from Jahurabad seat (Ghazipur), where Mahendra Chauhan replaced her.

The SP has left 105 of the 403 seats for the Congress and will contest on the rest of the 298 seats. Although it has already allotted ticket to 324 candidates, it will ask its nominees to withdraw from those constituencies it has offered to the Congress.

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