Number games

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are exploring the possibility of a pre-poll alliance for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are exploring the possibility of a pre-poll alliance for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Last week, state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said at an event that he wasn’t averse to a tie-up with the Congress. The buzz is the SP has offered the Congress 58 seats, while it would go it alone on the rest of the 403 seats. The Congress is unlikely to settle for anything below 100 seats, or so is its current stand. An SP-Congress pre-poll alliance is considered to be a “winnable” combination, but much depends on SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is unwilling to cede more ground to the Congress.