On a day when the Bahujan Samaj Party saved the Harish Rawat-led Congress government in Uttarakhand, Congress in-charge of UP, Madhusudan Mistry ruled out any pre-poll pact with Mayawati’s party stressing the party would prefer to go alone in the Assembly polls.
"We are not averse to any pre-poll alliance but there is no proposal of joining hands with the BSP. The Congress will contest all 403 seats on its own. The party leadership is ready and so are the workers,” Mistry told reporters in lucknow on Tuesday.
He said that in West Bengal, the Congress has aligned with left parties but the same formula cannot necessarily be replicated in other states.
The AICC general secretary and Rajya Sabha member denied media reports about suggestions coming from Prashant Kishore to project Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi as the CM candidate in ahead of the UP polls.
"There is no truth in such reports. It is up to the high command to decide on the CM candidate. We have no information about Priyanka Vadra joining active politics," said the leader
Mistry was in lucknow to attend a meeting of block pramukhs with Prashant Kishor and state chief Nirmal Khatri. At the meeting, leaders demanded that the candidates be announced early. It was also suggested that no outsider be pitted and that the party should contest the next polls projecting a CM candidate.
"In the meeting we heard the suggestions given by the block and district chiefs. We even asked them to send us the issues they think should be included in the poll manifesto,” Mistry said.
About the party candidates, Mistry said that the party is ready with a panel of candidates in each of the 403 Assembly constituencies. “By the end of this month, Rahul Gandhi would confer with the leaders to give his approval," he said.
Mistry also hinted at the process of selecting the candidates would start after May 19, when the results of Assembly polls in five states would be announced. "There is also a proposal to hold a massive conference in lucknow where newly appointed 30,000 party cadres would participate. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to address them," he said.
State Congress chief Nirmal Khatri announced that the party will soon launch a yatra in Bundelkand. "Congress is committed to highlighting the failures of the UP government and to make the people aware of the lapses of the Union and state governments in extending help to the farmers," Mistry said.