After SP-BSP snub, Cong to go it alone in UP
Left out of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) pre-poll tie-up in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress on Sunday announced that it would go it alone on all the 80 Lok Sabha (LS) seats in the state in the upcoming general election.
After a brainstorming session with senior party leaders, Congress general secretary in-charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad, however, said his party would accommodate any secular force that was capable of taking on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the LS polls.
The meeting of the Congress was held a day after the SP and the BSP announced their alliance in UP, sharing 38 seats each and leaving two seats for the smaller parties, besides leaving Rae Bareli and Amethi for UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, respectively.
Azad expressed hope that the Grand Old Party would double the tally of 21 seats it had secured in the state in the 2009 general election.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi will hold at least 13 rallies in UP.