UP Elections: 'Hand' to ride with the 'cycle', says Ghulam Nabi Azad

Congress-SP alliance details to be finalised soon, said the senior Congress leader

A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav won the war for the Samajwadi Party’s poll symbol 'cycle', senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad confirmed that the two parties will fight the coming Uttar Pradesh polls in an alliance. 

"There will be Congress and SP alliance in upcoming UP elections," Azad, who is also the All India Congress Committee (AICC) member-in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, said on Tuesday. 

"The details related to the alliance will be decided in coming days, for now we can say there will be Congress-SP alliance under leadership of Akhilesh Yadav," Azad added. 

Meanwhile, Sahibabad MLA Amar Pal Sharma who was expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joined the Congress party on Tuesday. 

Akhilesh’s emergence as party boss could pave the way for an alliance of the SP, the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in UP. The announcement of a pact might come in a day or two, sources said.

The seven-phase Assembly polls will be held in UP on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 and March 4 and 8.