LUCKNOW: Congress seems to come to terms with the reality that no political outfit was interested in stitching an alliance with it.
It was reflected well in the Sunday statement of general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when she ruled out any chances of pre-poll alliance with other political parties for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due next year.
"If Congress has to win, it will win on its own," the 49-year-old said while addressing the party's 'Pratigya Sammelan-Lakshya 2022' in Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh. "We will nominate only Congress workers for all Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats," she said.
Last month, Samajwadi Party (the main opposition party in Uttar Pradesh) chief Akhilesh Yadav had made it clear that he would not enter into alliance with any mainstream party as per his past experience. "Our experience of alliances with bigger parties had been bitter. We therefore now look forward to bringing in smaller parties together and not the bigger ones. I don’t think SP will have any alliance with Congress or BSP," he asserted.
Facing an uphill task of consolidating its support base in Uttar Pradesh where the grand old party has just one MP Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, and just seven MLAs of which two have rebelled.
The Congress recently promised 40 per cent tickets to women in the coming Assembly elections slated for early next year. Priyanka said the decision was aimed at making women, a "full-fledged partner in power". The AICC general secretary has been tasked with regaining the party's lost glory in the political heartland. Congress has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh for almost three decades now.