A dispute over Madhya Pradesh's electoral tie-up has Congress and SP trading insults, including "Akhilesh-Vakhilesh" and "Kamal in name

 A dispute over Madhya Pradesh's electoral tie-up has Congress and SP trading insults, including "Akhilesh-Vakhilesh" and "Kamal in name."

In a dispute over their probable alliance for the state's Assembly elections, the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP), the other primary opposition party to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is now in power, have traded sharp insults.

The latest dispute began when Kamal Nath, the head of the Congress' Madhya Pradesh branch and a former chief minister, responded to a media question on a potential electoral alliance with SP by saying, "Oh brother, let's leave Akhilesh-Vakhilesh."

The SP leader Akhilesh Yadav's party did not like the sort of remark Nath made to him.

When questioned about Nath's statement by journalists, senior SP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav was clearly distressed by the comments. "I'd prefer not to speak. They are 'Chhutbhaiya' (little) leaders, he said, according to news agency ANI.

Yadav himself added his opinion to the discussion with a caustic comment. "His name (Nath) is really lovely. In an interview with media in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, the SP president remarked, "Whoever's name contains the letter 'kamal,' they will refer him as Vakhilesh solely and not Akhilesh. Political analysts said that he seemed to be equating Nath's first name, "Kamal," with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s electoral lotus emblem.

He was correct when he said, "Who is Wakhilesh? There is Akhilesh. We don't want to engage in this, but if they say these things, the Samajwadi Party is free to respond, too, Yadav said.

A single-phase election for Madhya Pradesh's 230 assembly seats is scheduled on November 17. The SP has released its own list of candidates despite originally seeming eager to form an electoral alliance with the Congress. So far, the party has announced 33 candidates.

The SP ran for two Assembly seats in the most recent Madhya Pradesh elections without forming a coalition with the Congress. After winning the most seats with 114, the Congess established the government. But the party lost about a dozen MLAs in March 2020, which brought down the government.

Speaking to the media in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Yadav accused the Congress of preventing the pre-election coalition in Madhya Pradesh from being signed. Who will support the Congress if they act in such a way, he asked.

"I am not offering the Congress party any advise or proposals, but the country has a significant dilemma. A sizable party is the BJP. This side is incredibly well-organized. Therefore, there should be no misunderstanding about it in either party. He was cited by the news agency PTI as stating, "You won't win any election if you fight with chaos.