Congress will form next government in Uttar Pradesh: Digvijay Singh

Enthused after wresting the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat from the Samajwadi Party, the Congress on Tuesday said it would contest all the seats in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and form the next government.

Enthused after wresting the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat from the Samajwadi Party, the Congress on Tuesday said it would contest all the seats in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and form the next government.

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Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said politics in the state was getting "polarised" between the Congress and the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Chief Minister Mayawati.

"Polarisation is taking place in Uttar Pradesh between the Congress and the BSP. In the 2012 assembly elections, the Congress will contest all the seats and form the government," Singh said here.

The Congress' Raj Babbar defeated Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Dimple by over 85,000 votes in the Firozabad by-election. Mulayam Singh's son Akhilesh Yadav in the general elections won the seat in May this year.

The election was necessitated after Akhilesh, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from two seats, decided to retain Kanauj.

Digvijay Singh, also the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, said the Samajwadi Party's vote-bank is eroding in the state.

"The SP's vote-bank in the state is eroding. People did not vote along caste lines," he told reporters here.

He also said that people of the state have shown faith in the leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son, party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

The BSP also performed very well in the by-elections, winning nine of the 11 state assembly seats where by-polls were held last week.