A day after BSP–SP turned a blind eye towards Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the grand old party on Sunday announced that it will contest all 80 seats of Uttar Pradesh on its own in the upcoming Lok Sabha 2019 Polls. Earlier, BSP and Samajwadi Party on Saturday announced its alliance in the state with equal 38 each seat. However, BSP-SP made it clear that it won’t field their candidate on Amethi and Raebareli- the two bastions of the Rahul Gandhi led party.
Speaking to the Press, Senior Congress Leader and Uttar Pradesh In-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said, “The Congress will contest on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, and defeat the BJP.”
Azad further added the party is ready to take all secular forces of the state into its fold.
“We wanted that Congress should have been a part of the grand alliance (against the BJP) in UP. But, if someone does not want to walk along, then nothing could be done.” Ghulam Nabi Azad said on the question of being left out by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
He said the Congress president will hold at least 13 election campaign rallies in the state adding that we’re ready to go alone to take on Bhartiya Janta Party. He added earlier they were talks about party to field its candidates on just 25 seats but it has been now decided that Party will contest on all 80 seats on the state.
In 2014 General Elections, Congress managed to win only two – Amethi and Raebareli while Samajwadi Party secured 5 seats, BSP could not manage to open its tally.
On Saturday after BSP-SP make the alliance Official. Asserting the need for the alliance Congress Leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said as quoted by ANI, “Today there is a need of alliances in the entire country. BJP got only 31% vote in 2014 and claimed it was people’s mandate, this happened due to split in votes”. Mamata Banerjee welcomes BSP-SP tie-up, Tejashwi Yadav says the downfall of BJP has started
Congress announcement comes a day after when BSP-SP declared its seat pact and left Congress. BSP Supremo Mayawati while addressing a Joint Presser on Saturday revealed the reason behind leaving INC, said, ‘Be it BJP or Congress, whoever rules, their policies are mostly the same. For example, we are seeing how both indulged in corruption in defence deals. Congress imposed declared the emergency, today there is an undeclared emergency”.
She added, Moreover, we won’t gain anything by including Congress in our alliance. Both BSP and SP have experienced in the past that Congress’s vote is not transferrable.
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