Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Cong for alliance with SP in UP elections

By The Assam Tribune

NEW DELHI, Jan 17 - Efforts to form a �grand secular alliance� in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh went into top gear today with the Congress declaring that it has decided to tie up with Samajwadi Party (SP) and the shape of the formation would be announced in the next two days.

�I am confident that the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh,� AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters confirming about the much talked about the tie up.

Azad, who is in-charge of party affairs in UP, said this was just a beginning of the alliance process and the nitty gritty would be decided in the next one or two days.

He was asked whether it would be a grand secular alliance also comprising Ajit Singh�s RLD.

At the AICC briefing later, party coordinator for UP Meem Afzal spoke in similar vein. �Congress will have an alliance with Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The details of the arrangement will be announced in the next two days,� he said.

Congress announcement came close on the heels of reports from Lucknow where SP chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said 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.

SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, a close aide of Akhilesh, expressed hope of a grand secular alliance to fight elections in the state. � PTI

Next Story