Congress will fight polls in UP on its own strength: Jyotiraditya Scindia

New Delhi: The Congress will fight the general election in Uttar Pradesh on its own strength, party's west UP in charge Jyotiraditya Scindia said Saturday, asserting the path of his party may be different from that of the SP and the BSP but their objective is the same.

Scindia also said that as far as talks for alliances are concerned, "like-minded parties should also think in a like-minded way". The AICC general secretary in charge UP west's remarks assume significance as they come amid reports that there may be a rethink on the grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh to include the Congress. On Akhilesh Yadav's remarks that the Congress was very much in the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance and two seats were being left for it, Scindia said, "If this is his thinking, then we may also leave 2-3 seats for them." "The current situation is that the SP and the BSP have taken a decision that they want to walk on a different path with the same objective that the Congress has. Our paths can be different, but the objective is the same," he said. Scindia asserted that the Congress wants to have a UPA government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, it was determined to come back to power by 2022. "We have said time and again that our objective is the same that UPA government must be formed at the Centre. In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is going to fight this election on its own strength," Scindia told reporters here. "We believe that be it BSP or SP, they have taken a decision and we respect that decision. They have the right to choose their path. They have chosen their path and the Congress is going to fight this election on its own strength," he said. Asked about whether talks should be held to bring like-minded parties together, he said dialogue should take place but it should be from both sides. "We are going to establish the Congress strongly on the ground in UP. And we are moving in that direction," he said. On leaders in UP like Savitri Bai Phule joining the Congress, Scindia said the party's doors are open for those who have strength on the ground, want to serve the people and are committed to forming a new Uttar Pradesh. Interestingly, both the Congress and the SP have announced their first list of candidates for some seats in UP. The Congress on Thursday announced 11 candidates for the electorally crucial state of the UP, fielding UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli and party president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. Former Union ministers Salman Khurshid, Jitin Prasad and R P N Singh have been fielded from their traditional seats of Farrukhabad, Dhaurahra, and Kushi Nagar respectively. The Samajwadi Party on Friday released its first list of nine candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, fielding party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav from its stronghold Mainpuri. Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats out of which the Congress had won just two (Amethi and Raebareli) in 2014. BSP chief Mayawati and SP's Akhilesh Yadav had jointly announced their alliance in January. On Tuesday, Yadav, at a press conference in Lucknow with RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, had said the Rashtriya Lok Dal will contest three Lok Sabha seats as part of an alliance with the SP and the BSP.