Lucknow, May 21 -- An impromptu visit by two Congress leaders to Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati's residence near the UP Congress Committee office on Lucknow's Mall Avenue on Tuesday evening, ostensibly to enquire about her health, has set off a buzz in political circles about a new alliance in Uttar Pradesh before the 2027 assembly elections. The four-time former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who has already declared her party's intention to go solo in the state, declined to meet Tanuj Punia, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Barabanki, and Rajendra Pal Gautam, Chairman of the SC Department of the All India Congress Committee, as it was an unscheduled meeting. Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was in neighbouring Rae Bareli when the two Congress leaders visited the BSP chief's residence. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday made it clear that the alliance with Congress will continue in the 2027 assembly election. He said seat-sharing in the assembly election will be based on the winnability formula. PL Punia, Tanuj Punia's father, was previously a close aide of the BSP chief and served as principal secretary when Mayawati became chief minister in 1995. Replying to the query about his visit, Tanuj Punia said the party's SC wing held a meeting under the chairmanship of Rajendra Pal Gautam on Tuesday. "After the meeting, there was a discussion about the health of the BSP chief. Gautam told us that Mayawati is a senior leader of our community and, since she is 70, we should visit her residence to enquire about her well-being. We decided to make an impromptu visit to Mayawati's residence without seeking a prior appointment. We asked the staff at her residence if she was busy. Party leadership did not direct us to meet Mayawati. We could not meet her because she was busy, so we returned to our office," Punia said. Avinash Pande, the Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, said the party has taken notice of the leaders' visit to the BSP chief's residence. He said the party did not authorise the visit, and the leaders went there in their individual capacities. UP Congress Committee president Ajay Rai also distanced the party from the visit. He, too, said the party did not give permission for the two leaders' visit. Nevertheless, a section of Congress leaders were of the view that both party leaders attempted to meet the BSP chief only after getting the green light from the top leadership. "By sending two Dalit leaders to the BSP chief's residence, the Congress has also been able to send a message to the Dalit community that it is working to bring the Dalit-based parties and organisations into a bigger alliance to defeat the BJP in the assembly election," Congress leaders said. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, state Congress leaders demanded an alliance with the BSP. "Though the BSP's influence among the Dalit community has declined, it still maintains a hold over the Jatav community, which influences a large number of seats in West, Central and East UP. To regain ground in UP, the party should work on a Muslim-Dalit and OBC formula," the state Congress leaders had said. However, the Congress central leadership opted for an alliance with the SP in the 2024 parliamentary election. In a press statement, the UP Congress Committee said Mayawati is a prominent Dalit leader not only in UP but also in the country. "Her activities have decreased in recent days. Rajendra Pal Gautam, president of the Congress Scheduled Castes department and former minister, and MP Tanuj Punia formally visited her to enquire about her health," the statement added. "The INDIA bloc defeated the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. All people of a similar ideology have a big responsibility and this is what the public wants," the Congress statement said. The BSP won only a single seat in the 2022 assembly election and drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. As the assembly election draws near, Mayawati is likely to recalibrate her strategy in UP even as smaller parties like AIMIM have sent feelers to her for a pre-poll alliance, said SK Srivastava, a political observer. BSP state unit president Vishwanath Pal expressed ignorance about the Congress leaders' visit to the party chief's residence. The party's national president will give her views on the issue, he said....