Cong alliance broken: SP

Angry with the Congress for unilaterally announcing 24 candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party on Friday declared that its alliance with that party was "broken".

"I don't want to use any harsh words, but the alliance is broken. The obituary of the alliance was written the day Congress had announced its list of 24 candidates in Uttar Pradesh," SP general secretary Amar Singh told media persons in New Delhi.

After days of talks on seat sharing, he suggested that there was no meeting ground as the Samajwadi Party was ready to give a maximum of 17 seats while the Congress had been demanding a minimum of 25 of the total 80 seats in the politically crucial state.

Singh's refrain was that no political party-- national or regional-- gives seats it has won to any other party in the name of alliance, "and the Congress wanted the best of both worlds."

The Congress on Wednesday released a list of 24 candidates, striking back at the SP which had unilaterally announced 62 nominees so far even as talks were underway.

Singh, however, said that SP would not field candidates in Rae Bareily and Amethi from where Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul will contest.

"Whether the alliance takes place or not, we will not field candidates in Rae Bareily and Amethi," Singh said.