BJP will contest Uttar Pradesh assembly elections alone: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday night said the saffron party would contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections alone, according to reports.

The Union minister's statement has put speculations to rest on whether the BJP would opt for a coalition in the North Indian state, which has the largest electorate in the country.

"The BJP will contest the coming 2017 Assembly elections on its own and form its government," PTI quoted Naqvi as saying during a private event in Bareilly.

In the civic body polls held in November, the BJP had lost in many pocket constituencies. The party had reportedly lost 50 seats out of 58 in Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency.

The BJP could only win four of the 28 seats in Home Minister Rajnath Singh's Lucknow constituency, while it lost 49 out of the 56 seats in Union Minister Kalraj Mishra's Deora constituency.

Talking about the DDCA row in Delhi, Naqvi said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was "clean and honest", while slamming the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.

He referred to the Congress as "the mother of corruption", criticising the party for impeding India's development by disrupting Parliament.

"The Congress, having feudal and imperial mentality, does not want development of the country," said the BJP leader.

The minister of state for minority affairs also lashed out at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his European trip on New Year, saying: "Maybe the foreign trip could give him some good sense."