Congress to contest UP local bodies' polls on its own, not with SP: Nabi

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party, which had formed an alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections earlier this year, are likely to contest the upcoming urban local bodies' polls in the state on their own.

The notification for the local body polls is likely to be issued before the end of this month.

Senior Congress leader and the party's general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, while addressing a function in Aligarh on Sunday had said his party would go it alone in the urban local bodies polls.

Addressing a function to mark the birth centenary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Azad said, "Our party will contest the upcoming urban local bodies polls on its own."

Reacting to Azad's comments, Samajwadi Party spokesperson and MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said, "We are ready for the urban local bodies' poll. The pre-poll electoral tie-up was for 2017 UP Assembly elections."

"This does not mean that it continues for the urban local bodies' elections or 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It is the issues and prevailing situation which decides whether we opt for an electoral tie-up or not," he said.

The SP leader said the party's coordination with the Congress is good and in some ways their ideologies also match.

"But, this does not necessarily mean that we will opt for an electoral tie-up. We will fight the urban local bodies' polls on our own," Sajan said.

In the UP Assembly elections held earlier this year, the Congress contested in 114 seats winning only seven, while the Samajwadi Party fielded as many as 311 candidates, and won 47 seats. However, in some Assembly seats both the SP and Congress were in fray.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Dilip Srivastava exuded confidence that his party would register an impressive win in the urban local bodies' polls.

He said, "The party has started Vikas Parv, which will disseminate information pertaining to various developmental schemes and projects of the Centre in the last three-and-half years.

"It will also spread information about the developmental works undertaken and achieved in the six-months of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state," Srivastava said.

The Aam Aadmi Party too has jumped in the urban local bodies' poll fray with the outfit releasing its first list of 19 candidates for Lucknow Municipal Corporation election.

According to a release by the party, it has announced the name of Priyanka Maheshwari as its nominee for Lucknow mayor.