Cong woos Ajit Singh, wants RLD as ally in UP

Digvijay Singh described Ajit Singh and his party as “secular’’ in a move that was intended as much to woo the RLD as it was to sow confusion in other camps in the state.

After the parliamentary session, Congress leaders are shifting their focus to next year’s Lok Sabha polls, with AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh hoping to revive the party’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh by working on a “grand alliance’’ with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and other parties, including Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal.

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Digvijay Singh described Ajit Singh and his party as “secular’’ in a move that was intended as much to woo the RLD as it was to sow confusion in other camps in the state. He admitted that no discussion had been held with the SP so far about roping in the RLD in the proposed combine. The RLD has a considerable foothold in about 15 seats in western UP.

In fact, the Congress’s seat sharing talks with the SP for the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP have been in a limbo since they first began nearly five months ago.

Digvijay Singh claimed that seat-sharing had been decided in a majority of segments, but admitted that there were problems in seven to eight seats.

The AICC general secretary, however, refused to divulge the number of seats which the three parties — the Congress, the SP and the RLD — would contest in UP.