Prayagraj, 18 Aug (HS): Deputy Leader of Opposition in the

Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari, said that the decision regarding an alliance

between the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh

Assembly elections would be taken by the top leadership of both parties.

Tiwari, who returned to Prayagraj on Tuesday after nearly

two months, was speaking at a felicitation ceremony organized in his honour by

the City Congress Committee. He said that the alliance between the two parties

had received widespread public support and yielded significant benefits in the

last Lok Sabha elections. He expressed confidence that the alliance would

continue in the Assembly elections as well. “The decision on seat-sharing will

be taken by the high commands of both parties,” he said.

Rejecting the BJP’s allegations regarding the Vande Mataram

controversy, Tiwari termed them fabricated and part of a political conspiracy,

saying that the BJP was merely trying to divert public attention from real

issues. He recalled that since 1896, Vande Mataram has been associated with the

opening of Congress sessions and played an important role in inspiring the

spirit of freedom during the freedom struggle.

Tiwari further said that the departure of the Modi

government from power was inevitable. He alleged that the government had

weakened the Indian economy from within and had failed to provide relief from

inflation, unemployment and widespread corruption. He also accused the

government of promoting hatred and allowing atrocities against weaker sections

of society.

The programme was presided over by City Congress Committee

President Fuzail Hashmi. Former MLA Vijay Prakash, Shyam Krishna Pandey, Sudhakar

Tiwari, Kishore Varshney, Harikesh Tripathi, Mukund Tiwari, Sanjay Tiwari, Anil

Pandey, Haseeb Ahmed, Balendu Mishra, Parvez Siddiqui, Manoj Pasi, Ram Manorth

Saroj, Manas Shukla, Afroz Ahmed, among many others, were present on the

occasion.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi