Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday, rushed to Delhi to meet party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav for important consultations ahead of the UP assembly elections.
Akhilesh is likely to meet his party’s ally Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary to finalise seat sharing.
Chaudhary had announced on Thursday that his party had joined hands with the Samajwadi Party, however, the seat-sharing arrangement was not yet clear. The SP is gathering the support of smaller parties as it gears up for a tough battle against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Recently, Akhilesh Yadav patched up ties with his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav and allied with his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia). Shivpal Yadav had later cleared that PSPL would not merge with Samajwadi Party, but backed Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister. The seat-sharing is yet to be decided as Shivpal Yadav aims to fight on 100 seats.
In the 2017 elections, Shivpal Yadav and Akhilesh parted ways as the former was allegedly dissatisfied with his declining status in the SP. He later broke out and launched the PSPL in 2018.
Apart from the RLD, the SP has announced a tie-up with Mahan Dal, Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party and the Apna Dal faction of Krishna Patel. The SP is likely to share 30-35 seats with the RLD for the 2022 elections.
Last week, Akhilesh Yadav said that he was ready to contest the upcoming polls and stressed that he would choose a seat as per his party's directive. His declaration came days after UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath confirmed his wish to fight the assembly election.