Samajwadi Party may not field candidates against Sonia, Rahul

The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh Monday said it may not put up candidates against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli and Amethi.

At a press conference here, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said his party "had no plans to field candidates against the Congress leaders".

Stating political courtesy as the reason behind not fielding candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the chief minister said that in the past too his party had not fielded candidates against the Gandhi mother-son duo.

The Congress, he said, had reciprocated by not contesting against his wife Dimple Yadav, now a Lok Sabha member from Kannauj.

The Samajwadi Party has already announced candidates for 78 of the 80 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

The party, whose 22 members in the outgoing Lok Sabha were crucial in keeping the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) II government afloat, has recently become very critical of the economic and foreign policies of the union government.

During public rallies, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has been blaming the Congress for all ills plaguing the nation.

Asked whether the party will align with the Congress, the 41-year-old Akhilesh Yadav said that no one can answer questions about the future in politics.

On an earlier occasion, however, he had said that in testing times, his party would be by the side of the Congress.