Tension rises within INDIA alliance as Akhilesh alleges Congress of "betrayal"

SITAPUR: Amid rising tensions within the INDIA alliance , Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that some "Congress leaders are siding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)", adding that he would not have trusted the grand old party if he had known that "Congress would betray them".

He further said he was unaware of the fact that the INDIA bloc has been formed at the national level to defeat the BJP and the alliance partners are not fighting together at the state level.

Akhilesh yadav's responded fiercely when reporters asked him about his reaction on Congress Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai's statement that if Congress had fought Ghosi, they (SP) might have lost the seat.

"The state chief has no authority. He was not there in the meeting held at Patna, Mumbai. What does he know about the INDIA alliance?... These people from Congress are siding or involved with the BJP," the SP leader said while talking to reporters in Sitapur. SP chief further said that he would not have trusted them if he had known that people from Congress would betray us.

"If I had known that the alliance is not on the state level then I would not have sent SP leaders to Digvijaya Singh...I would not have trusted them if I had known that people from Congress would betray us," he added. The Congress's UP unit chief Ajay Rai has asked the SP to withdraw from MP in favour of the grand old party as the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, he said, did not have any base there.

On Tuesday, while speaking to reporters about the allocation of seats in the INDIA alliance in Madhya Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav said that the Congress party should clarify who will get how many seats in the alliance and whether the alliance will be at a national level or on a state level.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has released its second list of candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, according to an official statement issued by the party on Wednesday.

The party has declared the names of a total of 22 candidates in the second list. Madhya Pradesh is one of the five states set to hold elections this year. The state is scheduled to vote on November 17, with the vote count taking place on December 3.

Voters will choose legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies. The Kamal Nath government collapsed in March 2021 when 22 sitting Congress MLAs resigned under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia and joined the BJP. Subsequently, the BJP formed the government in the state, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan taking office as Chief Minister.