Will join Akhilesh’s ‘grand secular alliance’ in Uttar Pradesh: NCP

Panaji: The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday said it is ready to join the grand secular alliance in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh with Samajwadi Party as the pivot.

"I got a call from Akhilesh Yadav today afternoon when I was in Goa. The talks were about alliance of NCP with SP in Uttar Pradesh," NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters in Goa.

Patel is in Goa to check preparedness of his party to contest the Goa Assembly elections slated on February 4.

"I told him (Akhilesh) that we are happy to have alliance with SP. He can formally announce that they are aligning with NCP. NCP will go for alliance with SP in UP," he said.

Patel said the Uttar Pradesh NCP unit president will initiate discussion from tomorrow with SP leaders to work out details about the tie-up.

The NCP had earlier said they will seek an alliance if the Samajwadi Party, Congress, and RLD come together in UP.

The efforts to form a "grand secular alliance" in Uttar Pradesh went into top gear today with the Congress declaring that it has decided to tie up with Samajwadi Party under Akhilesh, whose faction was allotted the party symbol "bicycle" by Election Commission.

The most populous state in the country will go to polls to elect 403-member House in seven phases between February 11 and March 8. Counting will be held on March 11.