Congress-up

The SP and BSP chose not to include the Congress in their battle against the BJP, saying that there is no real gain in aligning with the party. “Congress party rule hasn’t benefitted anyone. There’s no real vote transfer from Congress and hence no real gain from aligning with Congress. We won’t ally with any party which will hurt our political ambitions,” Mayawati said. A day after his joint news conference with Mayawati, Yadav said the alliance has unnerved the BJP so much that the party’s demoralised and desperate leaders and workers now want to join the SP and BSP. Responding to questions over being left out of the SP-BSP alliance, Azad said: “The Congress workers are not at all disappointed on being left out of the alliance. On the contrary, they are saying the party would have had to contest on 25 seats, but now it would be contesting on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.” Azad accused the BJP of dividing the country for power and said that the saffron party failed to fulfil its poll promises. “The coming Lok Sabha election is a battle to unite India and safeguard the democratic values,” he said.

Reacting to the Congress’s announcement, UP BJP spokesperson Chandramohan said: “The fear of the BJP and Modiji is making the opposition nervous. Be it Congress or the rest, they are really worried and we understand their desperation.”

Shortly after the Congress press conference in Lucknow, Shivpal Singh Yadav said his Pragatisheel Samajwadi PartyLohia (PSPL) was ready to form an alliance with the Congress in