Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has been seeking a grand alliance with smaller regional parties for months to prevent a split that would make it easier for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to come out on top.
Mayawati, the powerful leader of a party championing the cause of the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy in the battleground state of Uttar Pradesh, said earlier this week that she won’t tie up with Congress.
Congress suffered its worst showing in the 2014 election when Modi stormed to power with a commanding majority. And opinion polls show that while the BJP has lost ground since then, it is still the frontrunner in the coming election.