Amid Nitish Kumar 'ghar wapasi' reports, Akhilesh Yadav says alliance with Congress off to good start with…

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday his party's alliance with the Congress is "off to a good start" with 11 "strong" Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. "Our cordial alliance with the Congress is off to a good start with 11 strong seats. This trend will move forward with the winning equation," Yadav said in a post in Hindi on 'X'.

The SP chief added, “'INDIA' team and 'PDA' strategy will change history.” Akhilesh Yadav's 'PDA' strategy refers to targeting the "Pichada (backward), Dalit (oppressed), and Alpsankhyak (minority)" communities.

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Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament. The SP chief's statement came as the Lok Sabha Elections are due in April-May this year.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, "Constructive seat-sharing talks are on between Congress's Ashok Gehlot and SP's Akhilesh Yadav. We will inform when formula is decided."

Sources to India Today that the Congress leadership in the state has not accepted the deal. Accoridng to the report, the Congress is eying to contest 50 seats in the Lok Sabha Election 2024.

The development came amid strong indications that Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar may return to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

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Nitish Kumar had joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), founded by his former arch-rival Lalu Prasad, in August 2022 after he severed ties with the BJP. 

Kumar, the longest-serving chief minister of Bihar, thereafter, embarked upon a drive to bring together all opposition parties across the country to take on the BJP. This culminated in the formation of the opposition bloc INDIA.

In case Kumar decides to return to the NDA fold, the opposition united front will take a big hit.

Earlier this week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her party, the TMC, will fight the Lok Sabha polls "alone" in the state, a remark that rattled the Congress and sent political ripples in the INDIA bloc. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also ruled out of an alliance with the Congress in the state.