Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu said on Sunday that his party would tie up with only smaller regional parties for the assembly elections in the state next year.
“We will not even think about joining hands with big parties for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh,” Ajay Kumar Lallu was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Congress leader expressed confidence that his party is set for a “comeback” in the state, as he said that the earlier governments headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) “failed to live up to people's trust.”
Lallu, however, did not go into any details of the plan the Congress has in mind.
Calling the Congress the “main challenger” to the BJP when Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls early next year, Lallu said his party is confident of forming the government in the state after contesting the elections under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
"We are moving forward as a strong opposition force and under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi, we will win the polls, and form the government in 2022,” Lallu told PTI.
{{/usCountry}}"We are moving forward as a strong opposition force and under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi, we will win the polls, and form the government in 2022,” Lallu told PTI.
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Even the BSP and the SP have so far ruled out any alliance with the Congress. While Akhilesh Singh of the SP said the party would tie up with smaller parties, BSP supremo Mayawati hinted that her party would fight the elections solo.
However, in July, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had said that her party would have an open mind on forging alliance for the assemnly elections, with the objective of stopping the BJP from returning to power.
Earlier in the day, Lallu extended his support for the farmers protesting against the Centre's contentious agricultural laws as they gathered at Muzaffarnagar in the state for the Kisan Mahapanchayat called by the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Taking to Twitter, Lallu said the clarion call by the farmers would script the future of the arrogant government.
The Congress leader stressed that the issues plaguing the farmers would be part of their agenda in the assembly polls. He added that the people are “angry” at BJP over its failure to control price rise, unemployment, poverty and address the issues of farmers' plight and reservation.
Lallu exuded confidence that this anger would manifest itself in the assembly polls and the people would support the Congress. “There is a strong undercurrent in favour of the Congress which will be visible in the elections,” he said.
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In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Congress managed to bag only seven seats while its ally SP secured 47 seats; the BSP won 19 constituencies. The BJP, meanwhile, won the elections with a thumping majority as it clinched 312 seats in the 403-member legislative assembly to form the government for the second consecutive term.