New Delhi: Congress has not taken any decision on the issue of alliance with Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) led by former Union Minister Sukh Ram for next month's Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mosina Kidwai said on January 28.

"We have not taken any decision either way. We are still deliberating on the firm offer made by Sukh Ram yesterday," Kidwai said, adding the decision on the tie-up would be taken by January 29.

Kidwai, who is incharge of party's organisational affairs in Himachal Pradesh, had a hour-long meeting with Sukh Ram on January 27.

The Congress is sharply divided on the issue with a sizable section led former state Chief Minister and Congress Legislature party (CLP) leader Vir Bhadra Singh vehemently opposing any truck with Sukh Ram dubbing him as a "symbol of corruption".

Kidwai's comments came after Congress leader Satyajit Gaekwad said the party would lose its anti-corruption plank if it decided to go along with HVC.

"We are going to fight the elections on the anti-corruption plank against the BJP- HVC government and if we form an alliance with HVC, we won't be able to fight on the issue against the BJP," Gaekwad, who is incharge of party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, told a TV news channel.

He claimed that HVC was not a threat to Congress as the Sukh Ram-led party was not likely "to win more than two seats" in the Assembly elections.

"Earlier, HVC won only five seats with Mandi being its area of influence. Today with an anti-establishment feeling across the state, I don't think Sukh Ram has any influence except Mandi and Dharampur seat," he said.

Party leaders have been maintaining that the Congress was capable of fighting the election on its own, but the issue of a tie-up is being suggested by a section as part of a "larger politics" of avoiding division of secular votes.

PTI