Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that the Congress is part of the Opposition’s alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. The Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal are part of the Opposition alliance in the state.

Yadav, addressing a joint press conference with Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, said: “We have left two seats [Amethi and Rae Bareli] for the [Congress] party”, PTI reported. “The Congress is very much in the alliance,” he added.

The press conference was held after the Rashtriya Lok Dal was allotted three seats – Mathura, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar – as part of the alliance in Uttar Pradesh. “Rashtriya Lok Dal will join the BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh,” Chaudhary told the media, according to ANI. “Our workers will work hard to ensure victory of the alliance on all seats of the state.”

The Samajwadi Party and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party had finalised an alliance in January, but left the Congress out of it, claiming that including the party would help the Bharatiya Janata Party in the polls. The Samajwadi Party will contest on 37 out the 80 Lok Sabha seats, and Bahujan Samaj Party on 38 seats.