UP Grand Alliance On Anvil; Akhilesh Says Congress Tie-Up Decision Soon

Prospects of a "grand secular alliance" in Uttar Pradesh today brightened with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav saying a decision on tying up with the Congress will be taken in a "day or two".

"Decision on alliance (with Congress) will be taken in a day or two," he said, buoyed by the Election Commission's order recognising him as the President of Samajwadi Party and allowing him to retain the 'bicycle' symbol.

He was responding to a question on the possibility of tying up with Congress during an informal chat with mediapersons at his residence here.

SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, a close aide of Akhilesh, expressed hope of a grand secular alliance to fight elections in the state. Ramgopal said the final decision regarding forging an alliance with the Congress will be taken by Akhilesh, but he expressed hopes that it will happen.

"It is Akhilesh Yadav who will decide on the alliance. But I am hopeful it will happen," said Ramgopal, who has been a staunch supporter of Akhilesh during the intra-party tussle.

Giving enough indications that Congress was willing for such a tie-up, its spokesman and former Union minister RPN Singh was among the first to hail the EC order, saying it showed that Akhilesh enjoyed "90 percent support" in the organisation as also among SP legislators.

With the poll process set in motion after the issue of notification today, hectic efforts are underway to hammer out such an alliance, with Congress being offered 90 to 100 seats by the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, which is also trying to rope in Ajit Singh's RLD as a junior partner.

Congress General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ramgopal Yadav from SP, were said to be resolving some disputes over certain seats.

Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly constituencies where Akhilesh's party would be contesting the majority of seats and was likely to have RLD as a junior partner in Western Uttar Pradesh, which was once a stronghold of Ajit Singh.

The three parties will have to race against time to finalise the seat arrangements in the next few days as western Uttar Pradesh, where Ajit Singh enjoys some influence, goes to polls in the first two phases on February 11 and 15.

Samajwadi Party sources said the list of its party candidates will be released in a day or two. There were reports that the three parties would come out with a common minimum programme.

Leaders from the three parties insist that the main task in Uttar Pradesh is to stop the Narendra Modi-led BJP from coming to power.

In the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, Congress had joined hands with Janata Das (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal to form a grand alliance, which caused a major upset for the BJP-led NDA which had won 31 of the 40 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.