The Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal on Monday struck an alliance for the coming Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh under which Ajit Singh's party would contest 10 seats leaving the rest 70 to the SP.
Both the parties claimed the alliance would play a crucial role in the formation of the next government but remained non-committal on supporting Congress in the post-poll scenario.
Under the seat adjustment formula, the Ajit Singh-led RLD would contest 10 seats, mostly in western Uttar Pradesh.
The announcement was made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh at a joint press conference in Lucknow.
Asserting that they were not in contention for forming the government at the Centre, Yadav said there still was scope for preventing the division of anti-BJP vote in the state, an indication the SP was prepared for a tie-up with the Congress.
"What the Congress has to do is for it to decide.... Congress is our ally (in the state, being part of the government)," he said
But Mulayam made it clear that the alliance would have no truck with anyone tying up with the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is 'not any different from BJP'.
Mulayam's statement appeared to be a message for the Congress, which is wooing the BSP to cobble an alliance. Both the leaders were, however, non-committal on supporting the Congress in the post-poll situation.
"Our aim is not to make the government but to save the nation from the anti-secular and anti-farmer policies of the BJP-led government," he said.
He added their tie-up was a 'people's alliance' and not just coming together of the leaders.
The SP-RLD alliance has come in the backdrop of Mulayam Singh's oft-repeated stand that his party would not align with anyone and would 'give and take' support based on issues.