Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav on Friday ruled out the possibility of an alliance with Congress in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls.

Accusing the grand old party of betrayal, Shivpal said, “Congress leaders are liars. They kept us in the dark even as we waited for their response for over a month and held several meetings. Later, they unilaterally announced the list of their candidates.”

Talks were held between the PSPL and the Congress for an alliance in UP to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party alliance.

Shivpal said that his party would now focus on forging alliance with smaller political parties with the objective of creating a credible secular political alternative to the BJP.

Shivpal has already announced that he would contest the election from Firozabad constituency. The sitting MP from Firozabad, Akshay Yadav, is the son of Shivpal’s estranged cousin and SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav.

Friday’s development came as another setback for the Congress, which was elbowed out of the BSP-SP alliance.

Recently, Shivpal had met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and it was reported that the PSPL could be given 10-12 seats to contest in UP. However, Apna Dal, led by Krishna Patel, also claimed of being in touch with the Congress top brass for alliance. 

The Congress has already announced an alliance with little-known Mahan Dal. Peace Party leader Mohammad Ayub also met Congress general secretary and UP East in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Meanwhile, former minister in Akhilesh Yadav government, Aruna Kori, resigned from the party and joined the PSPL. Party president Shivpal Yadav presided over a function in which Kori joined the party.