New Delhi:
The Congress has finally reached an agreement with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Ajit Singh for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.
Ajit Singh and his son Jayant met Rahul Gandhi to seal the alliance and a formal announcement is likely today.
The talk in political circles is that RLD could be given 48 seats in his stronghold of western UP and five seats in the rest of the state.
The alliance talks between the two parties has been on for quite some time and Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh had, earlier this week, expressed hope that the alliance would be struck soon.
If this alliance materialises, it would be a significant move in the elections to the 403-member UP Assembly.
The talks between the two parties had run into rough weather some time back reportedly due to Ajit Singh's demand for a berth in the Union Cabinet.
Congress had come fourth with 21 seats in the last Assembly elections in UP in 2007.
The BJP, which has 98 MLAs in the present Assembly, has already announced it would not go for any pre or post-poll alliance in the state.
Some recent poll surveys have put Samajwadi Party and BSP among the front-runners while BJP stands at the third place but way behind these two parties.
The scenario may change if the Congress-RLD alliance happens as the two parties can bank on Jat, Muslim and upper caste votes.
Ajit Singh had earlier said that Congress and RLD should join hands as this was the only way to defeat Mayawati-led BSP.