Alliance with Congress off to a good start on 11 LS seats in UP: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said his party's alliance with the Congress is "off to a good start", with 11 "strong" Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

The state sends 80 members to the lower house of Parliament, and Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May. "Our cordial alliance with the Congress is off to a good start with 11 strong seats. This trend will move forward with the winning equation. 'INDIA' team and 'PDA' strategy will change history," Yadav said in a post in Hindi on 'X'.

The development comes at a time amid strong indications that Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar may return to the BJP-led NDA.

Kumar had joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, founded by his former arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, in August 2022 after he severed ties with the BJP. The longest-serving CM of Bihar thereafter embarked upon a drive to bring together all parties across the country to take on the BJP that culminated in the formation of the opposition bloc INDIA.