Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday insisted that the party will forge an alliance with the Congress party only if they are offered a respectable number of seats.

“The BSP will contest elections as a part of coalition government only if it gets a respectable number of seats,” Mayawati said at a press conference.

Mayawati’s reaction came amid reports that she asked the Congress party to firm up an alliance in election-bound states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

The talk of alliance has divided the Congress also. While the grand old party feels that an alliance with the BSP will help it in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Congress state unit chief in Rajasthan Sachin Pilot said last month that there would be no alliance with the BSP for the state polls.

Earlier this month, Mayawati directed the party leaders not to speak about alliance till the party leadership announces pre-poll ties with any party.

On Wednesday, the Janata Dal (S) also said it could not be taken for granted by the Congress for an alliance

Asked if his party would ally with the Congress for 2019 general elections, Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said, “Agenda is there (for an alliance). Let us see how Congress is going to treat JD(S).”

The two-month-old JD(S)-Congress coalition government has been through some rocky times so far.