Onus is on Congress for alliance of like-minded parties: Akhilesh Yadav

Akhilesh Yadav has thrown the ball in Congress' court ahead of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Your move!

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that the onus of having an alliance of like-minded parties for upcoming assembly elections in the state of Madhya Pradesh lies with the Congress.

SP and Congress had joined hands for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. At the time, Akhilesh and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had held joint rallies and heaped praises on each other. It came to a naught as the two parties were drubbed by BJP. Since, there have been some recovery with SP aligning with arch rival Bahujan Samaj Party to have positive results in consequent civil polls in the state.

All eyes, however, are now on states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and possibly Telangana where elections will take place later in the year.

Congress appears desperate to have a 'Mahagatbandhan' to tackle the Modi wave - especially in MP. But Akhilesh is unlikely to make the first move for it. "As far as Congress is concerned, the onus is on them to take all like-minded parties together," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI on Sunday. "We are in talks with Gondwana Ganatantra party for an alliance," he added.

And while SP may have thrown the ball towards Congress, Rahul Gandhi isn't any closer to scoring goals just yet. In the recent past, there have been indications that all is not well within the opposition with BSP too giving only mixed signals at best.

A frail opposition combine could be a shot in the arm for BJP - especially in states like MP and Chhattisgarh.