Varanasi: The Congress may have vowed to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh after the announcement of the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav alliance for the upcoming general elections, but the party is still hoping there will be a change of heart of the two major regional players.
While most party leaders have cautiously maintained a studied silence, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said his party hoped there would be a rethink on the SP-BSP alliance for Uttar Pradesh.
“Perhaps this (the decision to leave out the Congress) isn't the last word, maybe there will be some rethink as the elections approach. A truly broad-based alliance will be formed in Uttar Prasesh. If necessary, the Congress party will contest elections on its own strength," he was quoted by news agency ANI.
As the elections approach, a truly broad-based alliance will be formed in Uttar Pradesh, Chidambaram said on the sidelines of a party event here.
Chidambaram said the goal was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party and expressed hope that all secular, liberal parties would come together to fight the elections.
Earlier in Lucknow, the SP and BSP announced an alliance, under which they will fight 38 Lok Sabha seats each out of the 80 in the state. They left Amethi and Rae Bareli the two seats from where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi contested last time for the Congress.
Two other seats will be shared with smaller allies, the SP and the BSP announced. Chidambaram was here to seek suggestions from the people on what to include in the Congress manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Asking a gathering of about 200 people to speak their minds, Chidambaram said his party was not the BJP and in Congress people from all walks of life are heard.
The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the demolition of some temples to make way for the Vishwanath temple corridor in Varanasi were among the issues discussed.
(With inputs from PTI)
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