Will select candidates for all 403 assembly seats in UP: Congress

UP Congress chief Raj Babbar has not been in favour of any alliance with the SP

Despite talks of alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, Congress on Sunday said it was going ahead with preparations for fielding candidates in all 403 assembly seats in the state.

"We are in the process of selecting candidates for all the seats," UP PCC chief Raj Babbar said in Lucknow.

He said all the names will be recommended to the Central Election Committee of Congress by Monday.

So far candidates have been selected for the first three phases of the UP polls.

Babbar has not been in favour of any alliance with the SP, though senior Congress leader and in charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad is not averse to such a tie-up.

Meanwhile, senior SP leader Ramgopal Yadav refused to reveal his cards, saying he had not spoken to SP President Akhilesh Yadav and was not in a position to make any comment.

Akhilesh has been saying that the SP will get the majority on its own and in case of an alliance, they will get over 300 seats.

Talks of a possible alliance with the Congress had hit the roadblock when Mulayam Singh Yadav ruled out a tie-up with any party and favoured only merger of parties with SP.

But, with Akhilesh gaining the upper hand in the power game in SP, Congress seems to be moving closer to an alliance with the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh to keep Muslim-Yadav equation intact.