Congress to go alone in UP polls: Sheila Dikshit

Lucknow, Aug 8  Senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit on Monday said her party will contest the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections alone and not align with any other political party.

The results of the assembly elections will surprise everyone and the Congress will form the next government in the state, the former Delhi chief minister told the media here.

To a pointed query on whether she will contest the polls, she said a decision was yet to be taken on this issue.

Claiming that the people of Uttar Pradesh were fed up with the politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dikshit said the people were now looking towards the Congress with great hope.

The Congress chief ministerial candidate said only her party can usher in an era of good governance and development in Uttar Pradesh. 

"We will seek people's support on development plank," she said. 

Lashing out at the Akhilesh Yadav government, the Congress leader said the state was in the throes of lawlessness and communal riots and blamed the Samajwadi Party for what she said were power and water shortage in the state. 

She said the Congress will announce its candidates for the assembly polls at the appropriate time. 

A few leaders from other parties, including a retired Indian Police Service official Waseem Ahmad, joined the Congress on Monday, saying it was a secular and a progressive party.