Even as the rumbles within the Congress get louder with the exit of Margaret Alva, the Bahujan Samaj Party is acting swiftly to net the disgruntled Congress leader. Sources in the BSP told rediff.com that they have not directly broached this subject with Alva but are open about taking her in.
A BSP leader who did not wish to be quoted said the ground is being prepared to take Alva into their party and added that they will make their move following the meeting Alva has scheduled with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Within Karnataka, where Alva hails from, the BSP is trying to rope in more disgruntled Congress leaders into its fold. The candidates it is targeting are CK Jaffer Sharief, whose name Alva had mentioned during her outburst. Eyebrows were also raised following the recent meeting Sharief had with Veer Singh, the BSP member of Parliament in charge of Karnataka. The BSP is also making efforts to coax Congress leader Siddaramaiah and M P Prakash, both of whom had defected from the Janata Dal-Secular after falling out with H D Deve Gowda.
The BSP says getting the latter would be more important for them as these leaders enjoy mass support. However, roping in Alva would be more of a statement for the BSP.
Margaret Alva's son, Nivedit, has refused to comment on the issue saying this was not the right time.
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