Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday announced that his party would contest from all seats in the upcoming Madhya Assembly elections. He was in Bhopal on a two-day visit to meet party workers and other leaders.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister refused to comment on whether his party would ally with either the Congress or the Bahujan Samaj Party. “Our discussions are going on with several people, but I will not disclose anything now,” he said.

Yadav explained that his party would be stronger in November, when the polls will be held, than it was during the recently held Uttar Pradesh bye-polls, The New Indian Express reported. “We didn’t contest the two recent Assembly bye-elections, in Ater and Chitrakoot...just to help the Congress win those polls. But the main elections will be contested by our party with full strength, particularly in areas where we have cadres and a strong base.”

Yadav said that his party had surveyed all 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh and that the reports from those seats would be used to come up with a poll strategy.

Citing the Vyapam scam, Yadav also claimed that corruption was rampant in Madhya Pradesh. “Investigating agencies have yet to conclude the probe of the scam. It has claimed several lives,” he said. He also said that the state was tired of 15 years of rule by the Bharatiya Janata Party, and added that Madhya Pradesh had the most crimes committed against women, PTI reported.