New Delhi: An alliance between Congress and
RLD for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections is expected to be
announced on Saturday.
The talk in political circles is that RLD led by Ajit
Singh could be given 48 seats in his stronghold of Western UP
and five seats in the rest of the state.
The alliance talks between the two parties has been on
for quite sometime and Congress general secretary Digvijay
Singh had earlier this week expressed the hope that the
alliance would be stuck soon.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Ajit Singh
have held meetings to discuss the seat-sharing, according to
sources.
If this alliance materialises, it would be a significant
move in the elections to the 403-member UP Assembly.
The talks between the two parties had run into rough
weather some time back reportedly due to Ajit Singh`s demand
for a berth in the union cabinet.
Congress had come fourth with 21 seats in the last
Assembly elections in UP in 2007.
BJP, which has 98 MLAs in the present Assembly, has
already announced it would not go for any pre or post-poll
alliance in the state.
Some recent poll surveys have put Samajwadi Party and
BSP among the front-runners while BJP stands at the third
place but way behind these two parties.
The scenario may change if the Congress-RLD alliance
happens as the two parties can bank on Jat, Muslim and upper
caste votes.
Ajit Singh had earlier said that Congress and RLD
should join hands as this was the only way to defeat
Mayawati-led BSP.
PTI
