Mulayam Singh open for talks, Congress denies alliance

Lucknow, Mar 17 (ANI): In an attempt to make light of the controversy surrounding the seat-sharing issue between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, SP chief Mulayam Singh said on Tuesday that he is willing to talk to the Congress to maintain an alliance with them.

Talking to the reporters here, Yadav said, "I am ready for the talks (on seat-sharing) if Congress wants. Sonia Gandhi should take a decision in the interest of her party."

However, the Congress ruled out further negotiation with the Samajwadi Party for any pre-poll alliance in the state as it has declared candidates for most of the parliamentary seats in the state.

The Samajwadi Party has already put out candidates. So where is the scope for talks," AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters in New Delhi today.

The Congress announced candidates for 24 seats out of 80 seats in UP.

SP general Secretary Amar Singh had blamed the Congress for fielding its candidates for even those constituencies from which the SP had already fielded nominees.

Threatening to act in the same manner, Singh had said that his party would also announce the same seats for which the Congress had nominated candidates.

Acting true to its words, SP increased its tally of candidates from 65 to 74, leaving only six seats including Congress strongholds Amethi and Rae Bareilly. (ANI)