‘Congress to fight polls in UP on own strength’

NEW DELHI: Amid unceasing reports about its “imminent” electoral pact with SP-BSP, Congress on Saturday said it would contest the 2019 elections in Uttar Pradesh “on its own strength” and that it respects the decision of the two regional parties to not accommodate it in the alliance.

AICC general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters, “The current situation is that SP and BSP have taken a decision that they want to walk on a different path with the same objective that the Congress has. Our paths can be different, but the objective is the same.”

“We have said time and again that our objective is the same that UPA government must be formed at the Centre. In UP, Congress is going to fight this election on its own strength. We believe that be it BSP or SP, they have taken a decision and we respect that decision. They have the right to choose their path,” he added.

The remarks from the AICC manager in-charge of western UP are significant as speculation about alliance have not stopped despite repeated denials from Samajwadi Party.

While ruling out alliance in UP, Scindia did say that there were negotiations between parties which did not work out.

He took as a left-handed remark SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s recent observation that Congress was part of the alliance and it had been given Amethi and Rae Bareli. “If this is his thinking, then we may also leave 2-3 seats for them,” Scindia retorted.