SP, Congress in habit of joining hands against us, alleges BJP

Taking a dig at the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that it has been a usual trait of both the parties to join hands against the saffron party.

"As far as alliance between the SP and Congress is concerned, is it happening for the first time? No, this is their usual feature of joining hands against the BJP. So, as far as these parties are concerned, they keep on joining hands on negative aspect," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told ANI.

Refraining from commenting on the present bridge between the alliance of the Congress and SP, Trivedi said the people of Uttar Pradesh have decided to get rid of the trio of SP, BSP and Congress.

"As far as the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress is concerned, this is purely their internal matter. But, the people of UP are wise enough and they have decided to get rid of the trio of SP, BSP and Congress," he said.

Clearing all uncertainties over an alliance with the Congress Party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party on Friday released a list of 191 candidates for the first three phases of the assembly polls.

With the Congress maintaining suspense so far on whether it will ally with the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has fielded its candidates even in those constituencies said to be the strong hold of the grand old party.

With the Congress not yet opening its cards on whether they would go for an alliance, the Samajwadi Party seems all set to contest the polls on its own. Interestingly, the list includes the Samajwadi Party candidates on eight seats where the Congress has sitting MLAs.

This latest political development came a day after the Samajwadi Party ruled out an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which was earlier tipped to be the third partner in the conglomeration for the seven-phase assembly polls.

Uttar Pradesh will elect a new 403-seat state assembly in seven phases on February 11, February 15, February 19, February 23, February 27, March 4 and March 8.