The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday said there will be no grand alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017. The party had allied with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress in Bihar to form what was called a Grand Alliance for the Assembly polls in November 2015. However, JD(U) National Secretary General KC Tyagi (pictured above) put rumours of such a tie-up in Uttar Pradesh to rest and said the party will fight the Bharatiya Janata Party alone in next year's elections, Hindustan Times reported.

“We will strengthen our base across Uttar Pradesh, carry out a membership drive and arrange rallies. But we have dropped the grand alliance plan in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Assembly polls,” he said. Tyagi is hopeful that people will consider JD(U) a viable option in the polls. He added that party members will put in all efforts to stop the BJP from coming to power. “We will contest the seats where the JD(U) is in a good position and make all efforts to spoil the BJP’s game,” said Tyagi.

The state is now ruled by the Samajwadi Party, whose chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had earlier said he was not interested in an alliance. In Bihar, the JD(U), Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD and Congress had swept the polls, winning 178 of the state's 243 seats.