SP-NCP alliance in UP on the cards

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Sharad Pawar, will contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Lucknow:The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Sharad Pawar, will contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Though the Samajwadi Party is yet to make any official announcement on the alliance, NCP general secretary and UP in charge K.K. Sharma said, "That is what Pawar Sahab exactly wants. We should contest in alliance with the main opposition party to check the BJP from coming to power in every state. In UP, the main opposition party is SP."

NCP sources said, "SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and NCP president Sharad Pawar have discussed the issue in detail in Delhi recently." The alliance partners have yet not discussed the number of seats they would contest.

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State president of the NCP Uma Shankar Yadav said the arithmetic is being worked out. "We are ready to contest on a lesser number of seats. All we want is some of our MLAs in the UP assembly." In Uttar Pradesh, NCP has chosen to remain on the fringes ever since it opened its office in Lucknow in 2001.

IANS