Congress part of alliance against BJP in UP, says Akhilesh Yadav

Addressing a news conference in the Uttar Pradesh capital, Akhilesh said: “The SP and BSP are in alliance. Other parties are also part of the alliance. These parties have been allocated seats in the alliance. The SP and the BSP have kept them (the Congress) in the alliance. They have been given two seats.”

These two seats are Amethi and Rae Bareli, traditional Congress seats represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former party president and current UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi respectively.

The Congress has, however, said it would fight with its full strength from all the 80 seats of the Uttar Pradesh.

On Monday, a day when the Congress held a mega road show in the state with newly-appointed general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi in attendance apart from Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindhia, Akhilesh had asserted that the Congress was very much a part in their scheme of things.

“The SP’s alliance is not only with the BSP but the Congress is also a part of it,” Hindustan Times quoted Akhilesh as saying. The SP chief also said the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the Peace Party and the Nishad Party were in the alliance.

In January, the SP and the BSP announced their political alliance saying each would contest only 38 seats and leave two seats to the Congress.