Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said on Thursday that his party did not want the SP-BSP-RLD alliance to lose in Uttar Pradesh and that it may enter into an understanding with the ‘gathbandhan‘ in segments in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
He said the Congress has chosen to fight the polls in Uttar Pradesh, an electorally crucial state with 80 seats, on its own strength after the SP-BSP offered it only two seats.
“For a national party like the Congress, we cannot take like that (the offer of only two seats). That is why we are putting up candidates,” Moily told reporter in a telephonic interview.
“And while putting up candidates, there may be seat understanding even without ‘gathbandhan’. You will see that trend. Wherever we (Congress) are interested, they (SP-BSP) are interested to defeat the BJP, there may be an understanding.
“We do not want our (SP-BSP-RLD) ‘gathbandhan’ people to lose. That kind of an understanding will take place between the Congress, BSP and SP,” the former chief minister of Karnataka said.
Asked if the Congress would support the SP-BSP-RLD alliance where his party was not strong in Uttar Pradesh, he said, “Yes, this understanding will take place during the elections.”
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav recently remarked that the Congress was very much in the SP-BSP-RLD alliance and two seats were being left for it.
BSP supremo Mayawati had on March 12 announced that her party would not have an election tie-up with the Congress in any state.
Meanwhile, Moily also claimed that there was “rethinking” in the party on not having an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.
