Leaving Congress out of UP alliance would weaken anti-BJP front, says Salman Khurshid

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday that if his party were excluded from an opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, any nationwide front against the BJP would be weakened. He was speaking amid reports that the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party might keep the Congress out of a tie-up in the state.

Khurshid’s argument

Speaking in an interview, Khurshid, who previously headed the Congress in UP, said building a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh would be the most difficult task for the opposition there. He argued it was vital for the Congress, the SP, the BSP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal to come together to mount a strong challenge to the BJP. He described the situation in the state as fluid and said party president Rahul Gandhi was cautiously optimistic and open to alliances for the 2019 general election.

On the reports that the Congress could be left out, Khurshid said he suspected some posturing but could not be certain. Keeping the Congress out in UP, he said, would be short-sighted because it could affect the wider national alliance. If Uttar Pradesh did not play its full part in the wider alliance, he said, “the alliance nationwide itself will get weakened”, warning it could lead to a stillborn situation.

Give and take

The 65-year-old former Union minister nonetheless said he was hopeful a grand alliance would be formed in the state, calling it the best possible outcome for Indian politics. He said all four parties would need to make compromises rather than expect only to gain, and that with the right balance they could give the BJP a strong contest. If that failed, he said, it would be a historic loss.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election the BJP won 303 of 543 seats and the Congress 52.

See also: Samajwadi Party · Bahujan Samaj Party

Originally published on 24 December 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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