Will wait till last moment for a pact with SP:Cong

A day after the Samajwadi Party virtually ended the possibility of an alliance with the Sonia Gandhi-led party, the Congress on Monday said it will wait till the last moment for an amicable seat sharing arrangement with the SP for the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

"Doors will remain open till the last moment though we are prepared to contest from all seats. Yet, we will think on how many seats we can allot to SP like they have decided to leave us 6," Congress General Secretary and UP in-charge Digvijay Singh said in a press conference in Gorakhpur.

On Sunday, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had pulled the plug on any alliance by announcing that his party would contest all but six seats in UP.

However, the Congress general secretary on Monday said that his party would make every effort to keep communal forces at bay in UP and elsewhere and for that it would again seek SP's support to check the division of votes during the coming elections, but without compromising on its self-respect.

He said his party was thankful to the SP for coming to its aid during the trust vote in the Lok Sabha after the Left withdrew support on the nuclear deal issue.

Maintaining that UP would decide who would come to power at the Centre after the elections, he said there was no alternative to the Congress if a secular government has to be established.