Sending mixed signals in Uttar Pradesh, Congress on Sunday hinted at a possible alliance with the Samajwadi party against the Bahujan Samaj Party and accused the state government of corruption saying Chief Minister Mayawati cannot be expected to give a 'transparent' administration.
Amid reports of Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi warming up to each other, the Congress tried to reach out to its one time rival indicating it was open to an alliance with 'anyone who fights the communal forces'.
The Congress stand was outlined by All India Congress Committee general secretary and state in-charge Digvijai Singh even as the party attacked the BJP, BSP and SP in the same breath in the political resolution adopted on the first day of the two-day UPCC state convention being held after a gap of 26 years in Kanpur.
Rahul Gandhi was not present at the inaugural session but will be speaking on Monday.
"We are open to alliance with any one who keeps the communal forces at bay in the country. We must give some sort of credit to the Samajwadi Party that they have been able to contain BJP to a greater extent in UP," said Singh, though evasive when asked specifically whether the Congress could forge an alliance with the SP in the next Lok Sabha polls.
In the official resolution adopted at the convention, the Congress, however, slammed the SP for 'the goonda raj prevailing under its rule in the state'.
Accusing the Mayawati regime of being neck-deep in corruption, the resolution also referred to the large-scale transfers of senior officials and alleged that the central schemes had fell a victim to corruption'.
"To expect transparency and corruption-free administration from the present BSP government is useless," the resolution said.
"Going by the past record of the present chief minister, the resolution said it is very much clear how importance was given to corruption in the state. No department is free from corruption," the state unit of the party said in its resolution.
The political resolution also referred to the Rs 174 crore Taj Heritage Corridor Scam in which Chief Minister Mayawati is an accused.
Ridiculing the frequent transfer of officials in the state, the resolution said in just ten months of the BSP rule, a 'record' number of civil and police officials have been shifted.
The resolution expressed the party's support for smaller states but flayed Mayawati for indulging in 'petty politics' on the issue.
"Instead of making statements and writing letters, the chief minister should get a resolution adopted by the Vidhan Sabha in this regard," it added.
The resolution also referred to attacks on the Dalits in some parts of the state and alleged that the BSP government had failed to provide them security and justice.
"Even the members of the SC/ST are forced to pay bribe for getting jobs," it went on to allege.
Though the Congress tried to warm up to SP, it did not spare the party whe UPCC chief Reeta Bahuguna Joshi in her address at ridiculed the SP claim that the Congress was 'non-existent' in UP.
"Those who say that the Congress is nowhere in UP, should first tell the people where they stand in the country," Joshi said.