Congress begins talks with Rashtriya Lok Dal on alliance

Apparently seeking to strengthen its position in Western parts of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Congress has begun alliance talks with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Talks for a tie-up with RLD are on, Party General Secretary Digvijay Singh said.

The remark comes close on the heels of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav spurning an alliance with the RLD and asking Ajit instead to merge his party with the Samajwadi party. Ajit was quick to rebuff Mulayam, dubbing him as "anti-farmer."

Digvijay, in charge of the party's affairs in Uttar Pradesh, earlier said party leader Rahul Gandhi has been authorised to finalise the tie-ups.

Congress has already declared that it would go for tie-ups with smaller parties and would have no truck with the ruling BSP, SP as also the BJP. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress won 22 of the 80 seats in the state.

Gandhi has been leading the campaign in Uttar Pradesh to mobilise farmers on the issue of land acquisition and recently held a "Mahapanchayat" of peasants over the matter in Aligarh.

The growing warmth between the two parties is reportedly due to friendship between Gandhi and RLD MP from Mathura Jayant Chaudhury, who is son of Ajit Singh.

The Congress is desperately trying to widen its base in Western UP which has 125 Assembly seats spread over 22 districts. The Congress feels a poll pact with RLD might help in getting Jat support in the region.