Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Saturday said his party was ready to fight the Lok Sabha elections alone but hoped there would be a rethink on the SP-BSP alliance for Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress cannot be underestimated in Uttar Pradesh and will fight on its own strength if required, the former Union minister said after the two parties announced a seat-sharing pact, keeping the Congress out.
But he hoped that the agreement between Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati was not the final word.
As the elections approach, a truly broad-based alliance will be formed in Uttar Pradesh, Chidambaram said on the sidelines of a party event here.
Chidambaram said the goal was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party and expressed hope that all secular, liberal parties would come together to fight the elections.
Earlier in Lucknow, the SP and BSP announced an alliance, under which they will fight 38 Lok Sabha seats each out of the 80 in the state.
They ...
