Opposition unity withering? Congress says 'no'

The Congress on Saturday refuted suggestions that opposition unity is falling apart before the Lok Sabha election and expressed the hope of having an alliance with Mayawati's BSP at "some other stage".

The opposition's efforts to stitch together a united front against the BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha election had received a setback with Mayawati earlier this week deciding not forge an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming assembly polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, chief spokesman of the party, told a press conference here: "These claims that the opposition unity is falling apart are baseless. The Lok Sabha election is still a bit far away. The number of seats demanded by the BSP in Chhattisgarh was not suiting the electoral seat sharing requirement. "But we hope to have an alliance with Mayawati at some other stage," he said.

Alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll will happen on a state by state basis, he said.