Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav today suggested that the seat-sharing agreement with the Congress for Uttar Pradesh”s 80 Lok Sabha seats was nearing completion. The SP chief reassured that things are falling into place smoothly and there will indeed be an alliance.
“All is well that ends well. Yes, there will be an alliance… there is no conflict. Everything will be clear soon,” Yadav told reporters this afternoon.
Initially, the Congress had put forward a list of 28 seats it sought to contest in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Sources told NDTV that the SP is set to contest 62 seats, leaving 17 for the Congress, and one earmarked for Chandrashekhar Azad”s Azad Samaj Party. However, there are some minor areas of contention.
The Congress seems to have agreed to give up the Moradabad seat, which was won by the Samajwadi Party”s ST Hasan in 2019. The SP will vacate Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for Congress. There”s talk of a potential swap between the Sitapur and Hathras seats as well.
Yadav has also been presented with a choice between Bulandshahr or Mathura in exchange for the Shravasti seat. A formal announcement is expected soon.
The ongoing negotiations between the two parties, perceived as a litmus test for the INDIA bloc’s capacity to mount a credible challenge to the BJP”s dominant electoral machinery, have been under intense scrutiny lately, especially after several members left it to join the BJP-led NDA.
While talks between the Congress and Samajwadi Party seemed to have hit a roadblock earlier this week, they appear to have been salvaged, reportedly through the efforts of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Gandhi Vadra is said to have facilitated discussions and engaged with Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, the latter currently leading the “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” in UP, to garner their approval.
Congress sources indicate that Sonia Gandhi also played a pivotal role, helping state leaders acknowledge some of their demands as “unreasonable” and “unrealistic”.
This development serves as a much-needed shot in the arm for the opposition coalition, which has grappled with internal dissent since its formation last June, with disputes over seat-sharing at the forefront of its challenges.
The bloc has already witnessed the departure of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Janata Dal (United) chief, a founding member, who has allied with the BJP. Jayant Chaudhary”s Rashtriya Lok Dal has also entered the BJP-led NDA.
INDIA has also encountered setbacks from other members as well, including the Trinamool Congress and AAP announcing their intentions to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal and Punjab, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party surprised the Congress by unilaterally announcing candidates for 31 seats. On Tuesday, the party unveiled five candidates, with senior leader Shivpal Yadav nominated for the Budaun parliamentary constituency. Shivpal Yadav happens to be the uncle of Akhilesh Yadav.
The party also named Surendra Singh Patel for Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s constituency, Iqra Hasan for Kairana, Praveen Singh Aron for Bareilly, and Ajendra Singh Rajput for Hamirpur. This followed Monday”s announcement of 11 candidates, including don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari”s brother and BSP MP Afzal Ansari. On January 30, the Samajwadi Party had released its first list of candidates for 16 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
