Congress part of grand alliance, says Akhilesh Yadav, allots 3 seats to RLD in UP

Akhilesh Yadav said Rashtriya Lok Dal would contest the Mathura, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seats in western Uttar Pradesh.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal will contest three Lok Sabha seats as part of an alliance with the SP and the BSP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday and also declared that the Congress was very much part of the “mahagatbandhan”.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav addresses a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference with RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, the son of party founder Ajit Singh, Akhilesh Yadav said the party would contest the Mathura, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seats in western Uttar Pradesh.

To repeated questions on Congress, the SP chief asserted that the Congress was “very much in the alliance”. “We have left two seats (Amethi and Rae Bareli) for the party,” he said.

Akhilesh Yadav said the alliance partners will jointly take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 seats.