Cong open to talks with any anti-BJP party for pre-poll alliance: Pilot

The Congress is open to talks with any party willing to contribute to the defeat of the BJP in the upcoming elections, Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot said Thursday.

Pilot spoke of the Congress' willingness to forge an anti-BJP alliance a day after the BSP supremo Mayawati ruled out an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh assembly polls and decided to contest them all alone.

Rajasthan has always been a two-party state and it's okay that some independents or a few candidates from some other parties win in every election but there is not much of space for a third party in the state at present, Pilot told PTI.

I do not know what was the reason for Mayawati to come out with (such) a strong statement. We have open minds and are willing to talk to any anti-BJP party that wants to contribute to the BJP's defeat BJP on issues that are common. It is not about the Congress or a state but it is about the Constitution and democracy, he said.

Pilot said the Congress is open to talks with any anti-BJP party for a "practical and respectable" pre-poll alliance.

In Rajasthan, the BSP had contested 199 out of total 200 seats in the 2008 assembly elections and had won 6 seats, registering 7.6 per cent vote share.

In the 2013 assembly elections, the BSP's vote share, however, dipped to 3.44 per cent with the party winning only 3 seats.