Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Saturday, announced that the Congress will contest 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The UP Congress has, however, rejected the seat-sharing agreement announced by Akhilesh Yadav, saying the party has not accepted the deal. It said this was the decision of Akhilesh Yadav and not of the Congress.
UP Congress Committee president Ajay Rai said, “Seat-sharing talks with the Samajwadi Party are underway in a very cordial atmosphere and results of the negotiations would be announced soon. The decision on seat-sharing will be taken by the Mukul Wasnik committee constituted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.”
“Our cordial alliance with Congress is off to a good start with 11 strong seats. This trend will move forward with the winning equation. INDIA bloc and ‘PDA’ strategy will change history,” SP president Akhilesh Yadav said.
Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the highest in the country. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had won 62 out of the 80 seats, while the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance had won 15 seats. The Congress could only win one seat.
Party sources had earlier said that Congress was eying to contest 50 seats in UP in the Lok Sabha polls.
Following the reports of Congress leaders rejecting the 11-seat alliance, the SP issued a clarification stating that it was a proposal and the seats could be increased if Congress informed Akhilesh Yadav about candidates who could win more seats.
On Friday, Akhilesh Yadav had blamed the Congress for the ongoing fissures within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and said that the enthusiasm the party needed to show in discussing and engaging with alliance partners was not visible.
“Congress should have come forward. The enthusiasm that Congress needs to show in discussing and engaging with the INDIA bloc parties is missing,” the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh noted.
Akhilesh Yadav’s seat-sharing announcement came just a few days after the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab rejected alliance with Congress for the 2024 polls.