The Samajwadi Party will contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress Party under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media on Tuesday putting all speculations of a grand alliance to rest.
"There will be Congress and SP alliance in upcoming UP elections. The details about it will be decided in the coming days. For now, I can say that there will be a Congress-SP alliance under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav. We will think about 'maha-gathbandhan' in coming days," Azad told reporters.
Sheila Dikshit, the Congress Party's chief ministerial candidate from Uttar Pradesh, said on Tuesday that she would like to withdraw from the CM candidature since the alliance between the two parties has been confirmed.
"I would like to gracefully withdraw as we cannot have two CM candidates for the elections," Dikshit was quoted by ANI as saying.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had earlier said that "a decision on alliance (with Congress) will be taken in a day or two" after the Election Commission ruled in his favour and permitted him to retain the 'cycle' symbol of the Samajwadi Party while recognising him as the party president.
The process for the Assembly elections in the state will begin on Tuesday. The notification for the first phase of voting, in which 73 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh will vote, is scheduled to take place on February 11. The nominations for these constituencies will be filed on Tuesday with the last date being January 24.
The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is January 27, while the polling date is set at February 11.
