Even as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said in Amethi that the party would come up with surprising results in the 2017 Assembly polls in UP, state chief Nirmal Khatri ruled out any pre-poll alliance claiming that the party would go it alone.
“There is no reason for any pre-poll alliance before the 2017 polls and Congress is preparing itself to go alone and it is strong enough ito contest all 403 seats. However, a final call will be taken by the high command,” Khatri told reporters at lucknow airport after seeing off Rahul Gandhi.
When asked whether Congress would like to repeat the Bihar formula in UP, Khatri said that the situation in UP is different from Bihar. “In Bihar, both the JD(U) and RJD were opponents of the BJP but in UP both prominent Opposition parties, BSP and SP, are covertly close to the BJP,” he stated.
Clarifying further, the UP Copngress chief said while the BSP has formed government in UP thrice with BJP help, they could redo the act a fourth time. “Similarly, the SP has been cosmetic in opposing the BJP, but praise of PM Narendra Modi by Mulayam Singh Yadav and vise-versa proves that they are in cahoots. Besides, SP’s recent decision to contest alone in Bihar Assembly polls was a move aimed at helping the BJP discreetly,” he stated.
The Congress state chief also said that the party is working at the grass roots level, holding padyatras across the state to connect with the people, especially from the rural areas, which is set to benefit the party a long way.