Congress is part of Mahagathbandhan: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) formally joined the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) on Tuesday to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. The announcement was made at a joint press conference of SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary in Lucknow. The RLD settled for three Lok Sabha seats -- Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Mathura -- in the SP-BSP alliance. According to sources, the RLD had sought four seats.