No ''positive response'' from Cong on alliance: SP

Lucknow, January 20

A day after ruling out tie-up with Rashtriya Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party on Friday said it has not got any “positive response” from the Congress on alliance and that it could give the party only 85 of 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

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The Samajwadi Party, which is not on the same page with the Congress on the issue of inclusion of RLD, said if that party wanted to defeat the BJP, it should accept the SP’s formula of seat-sharing.

“Under this formula, the SP would give those seats to the Congress on which its candidate were in first place or seats where the SP was at third, fourth or fifth spots,” SP national vice-president Kironmay Nanda told reporters here after the SP released its list of 191 candidates.

“Thus, the Congress will get 54 seats. But if it (Congress) talks seriously, we can also give them 25-30 additional seats. The maximum seats we can give to them will be 85,” he said.

Noting that the main objective of the SP was to defeat the BJP in the Assembly polls, he said, “For this, we are trying for alliance with the Congress, but till now we have not got any positive response from them.”

To a question, Nanda expressed his party’s inability to given Amethi seat held by it to the Congress.

When it was pointed out that in today’s list the SP has fielded candidates on various seats on which the Congress candidates had won 2012 polls, Nanda said, “If alliance takes place, the SP will withdraw its candidates from those seats.”                

Formation of a ‘maha gathbandhan’ (grand alliance) in Uttar Pradesh appeared to be a matter of dispute between prospective allies the SP and the Congress, with both parties airing divergent views on inclusion of the RLD headed by Ajit Singh.

Sources said the RLD wanted more seats than what the SP was ready to part with.

The Congress reportedly offered some 20 seats to RLD chief’s son Jayant Choudhary, who is in touch with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

According to insiders, Singh has said he will not accept less than 30 seats and was now contemplating going solo.

To a query on tie-up with the RLD, Nanda said, “There was no talk with the RLD on alliance.”

When asked whether it has become difficult to forge alliance with the Congress now, he said, “It will be too early to say so. We still want an alliance with the Congress, but on our own conditions. Poll process has already started and the SP cannot wait for a long time.” —PTI