It would be worth mentioning here that both Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi have publicly appreciated each other and their efforts in their respective fields. The UP chief minister has expressed the view in his party circles that the alliance with the Congress could lead to thumping majority in the state assembly polls and the figure may well cross 300 seats out of the total of 403

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had one to one meeting with party Rajya Sabha MPs and members of UP assembly to discuss the issue of alliance. Majority of the party MPs and MLAs tod Rahul and Priyanka that the alliance with Samajwadi Party will help in defeating both BJP and BSP and this alliance will help in stopping the shift of the Muslim votes in the state from SP to

There is realization in Samajwadi Party that as damage control after war within the members of Mulayam Singh Yadav family, an alliance with the Congress will be politically beneficial to the SP to take on BSP and BJP.

It would be worth mentioning that Congress strategist Prashant Kishor had long discussions with Samajwadi Party national President Mulayam Singh Yadav in Delhi and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.

Despite recent efforts by SP state president Shivpal Yadav to have alliance with RJD,RLD and JD (U), Mulayam Singh Yadav on advice of his chief minister son Akhilesh ,turned down the proposal.

So much so, RLD president Ajit Singh and JD (u) leaders accused Mulayam Singh Yadav for scuttling the efforts for broader alliance for UP Assembly polls. It is recalled that Mulayam Singh Yadav told at a press conference that he was only open for merger and not for alliance with these parties.

Shocked by the rejection from Mulayam Singh Yadav, RLD JD(U) and former BSP minister and a prominent dalit leader RK Choudhry entered into alliance and announced that they would contest all the assembly seats in UP.

Veteran Congress leader Kranti Kumar feels that alliance with Samajwadi Party will not prevent split in Muslim votes but also ensure victory in assembly polls. Last time the Congress entered into alliance with any regional party in UP was with BSP. BSP ten contested 300 seats and the Congress was given 125 seats. Sources say that preliminary talks indicate that the SP is not ready to give the Congress more than 105 seats, keeping nearly 300 seats with them. UP state Congress is bargaining for more seats and the leadership thinks that this will be sorted out by Rahul Gandhi at his talks with Akhilesh in the coming days. (IPA Service)