Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (L) withSamajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: A day after declaring nominees on six of the ten seats, where assembly by-polls were slated, and amid speculations of cracks in the I.N.D.I.A alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday made it clear that his party's alliance with the Congress in the state would 'continue'.
In an informal chat with the reporters at Saifai, his native village in Etawah district, after paying floral tributes to his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on the occasion of his second death anniversary, Akhilesh said that his party would continue to be a part of the opposition I.N.D.I.A alliance.
''This is not the right time to talk about assembly by-polls.....SP and Congress will contest the forthcoming assembly by-polls in alliance,'' the SP leader said in reply to a query in this regard.
Akhilesh, however, evaded a reply on the results of the Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections saying that he would comment on them 'later'.
There were speculations in the political circles here after the SP declared its candidates on six seats taking the Congress by surprise.
Senior SP leader Ashutosh Verma's remarks that Congress did not have the capability to defeat BJP without the help of the regional parties triggered speculations that all was not well in the SP-Congress alliance.
''Congress did not give us any seat in Haryana and J & K and did not follow the gathbandhan dharma,'' he added. He also said that Congress' demand for five seats was 'unrealistic' and the grand old party was in no position to win those seats.
UP Congress leader Anshu Awasthi, however, said that the opposition parties must understand that the BJP could not be defeated without the Congress.
The SP had on Wednesday declared candidates from Milkipur, Sisamau, Manjhawa, Phulpur, Katehari and Karhal assembly seats.
Sources said that the SP might leave Ghaziabad and Khair assembly seats for the Congress. These seats were considered to be BJP strongholds.