SP-Cong forged alliance for UP polls to cover up 'mismanagement': BJP

Taking a jibe at the newly forged alliance between Samajwadi Party and the Congress ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said the alliance had been made to drag the attention of the people from the hooliganism, corruption and violence going on in the state.

"Just to cover up the hooliganism, corruption and violence, Samajwadi Party made up their family drama and now again they are aligning with Congress to drag the attention of people. But the people of Uttar Pradesh are very smart. The people know that development is only possible in BJP regime," said BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.

Hussain further stated that the people of Uttar Pradesh will never forget the failure of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's Government and expressed confidence over winning the upcoming elections.

Echoing similar sentiments, another BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said, "The Samajwadi Party have ruled the state on the basis of sheer hooliganism and now they and the Congress party have united to contest the polls. They have been forced to do that because things are in favour of BJP government."

The Samajwadi Party and Congress on Sunday firmed up an alliance for next month's high-voltage Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls at a joint press briefing.

They vowed to make Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister of the politically crucial state yet again while promising to free the state from communal and divisive forces.

The formal announcement of SP- Congress alliance has come after discussions by the two sides over few days before they agreed to 298-105 formula.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday released the election manifesto for the assembly polls.

The electioneering process in Uttar Pradesh has started gaining momentum with every passing day, as for the first phase of election, for which polling is scheduled on 11th February, a total of 168 candidates filed nominations till 21st January.

In this phase 73 seats are at stake for which nominations can be filed till tomorrow. Whereas for the 67 seats of second phase, the last date of nomination filing is January 27 and only 16 candidates filed their nomination so far.

The poll process in Uttar Pradesh begins on February 11. 73 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh will go polls in this phase. The filing of nominations for these constituencies will end on January 24.

Uttar Pradesh is set to have a seven-phase polling between February 11 and March 8.