Former bitter rivals Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati will hold a joint press conference this noon at a five-star hotel in Lucknow to announce their widely-anticipated alliance for the national election due by May. On Friday, Mr Yadav hinted that the Congress will be left out of the equation in Uttar Pradesh, India's most politically vital state. "We can give the Congress two seats in Uttar Pradesh they have always held," Akhilesh Yadav told NDTV, but refused to give a direct answer on whether the alliance between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the approaching would include Rahul Gandhi's party.