india

Updated: Jan 08, 2019 23:58 IST

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that his party will be a strong force in Uttar Pradesh, where prospective allies Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) appear to be closing in on an alliance without his party.

His comments, part of an interview to Dubai-based daily Gulf News ahead of his visit to the United Arab Emirates, come even as other opposition parties attempted to reach out to the SP and BSP to put up a united front.

“The Congress idea is very powerful for Uttar Pradesh. So, we are very confident of our ability in Uttar Pradesh and we will surprise people,” he said.

He suggested that his party was also trying to keep channels open with BSP and SP. “We are trying to bring opposition together… UP is work in progress. I have heard some statements in the media but we are going to work together and make sure that we defeat Mr Modi. But, I just want to say again — to underestimate the Congress in UP is a mistake,” he said. Gandhi also said that following the party’s defeat in 2014, the Congress “listening to people and building our ideas”. “We are going to listen very carefully, our model is completely different than the BJP,” he said.