The Congress appears to have kept its doors open for a pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh, given the inclination of Samajwadi Party's 'newly elected president' Akhilesh Yadav for such a tie-up to garner over 300 assembly seats.

"As of now, we are working on the recommendations of the screening committee for all the 403 seats in the state ... what can happen in future will be known only later ... but there is a lot of pressure on secular parties (for an alliance)," All India Congress Committee general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told newspersons on the sidelines of the party's executive committee meeting in Lucknow.

"The 36-member Central Election Committee will meet here from tomorrow for three days in which names of the candidates will be finalised," he said.

The Congress leader, however, did not openly advocate alliance with any party for the coming polls.

Talks of a possible alliance with Congress had hit the roadblock with SP supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav ruling out tie up with any party and favouring only merger of parties with SP.