Allahabad (PTI): With Rahul Gandhi in attendance, a crucial meeting of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday favoured an electoral tie-up with its new-found ally Samajwadi Party in the next Lok Sabha elections.

"The Uttar Pradesh Coordination Committee, which was addressed among others by Rahul Gandhi, was unanimous in supporting the tie-up with the Samajwadi Party," Congress General Secretary and in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, Digvijay Singh told reporters here after the meeting.

He said modalities of the proposed tie-up with SP will be decided at a meeting in New Delhi on August 30 or 31. He asserted that seat-sharing will be "on a pragmatic basis, keeping in mind the 'winnability' of the candidates".

Singh Gandhi, an MP from Amethi in the state, has favoured "bringing all like-minded secular forces together in order to fight the communal elements" but declined to state which other parties the Congress intends to align with.

When asked about the party's decision to go along with SP, a bitter rival until recently when it rescued the Congress-led coalition government in Lok Sabah, Singh said "this reminds us of the old quote from Winston Churchill that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics".

Commenting on SP's insistence on extending the pre-poll alliance beyond UP, Singh said "Thursday's meeting focused solely on Uttar Pradesh".

Singh said the party has decided to "raise its voice over the BSP government's failure to provide relief to the flood-affected areas."

Congress President Sonia Gandhi will address a Kisan rally on September 13 and the Congress will continue with its agitation against the unfair land acquisition policy of the government, he added.