Boost to INDIA, Samajwadi Party-Congress pact sealed

New Delhi, February 21

In a major boost to the INDIA alliance, the Congress and Samajwadi Party on Wednesday finalised the seat-sharing arrangement in the politically significant state of Uttar Pradesh for the forthcoming General Election, with Akhilesh Yadav offering 17 seats, including Amethi, Raebareli and Varanasi, to the Congress.

Priyanka dials Akhilesh, accepts 17 up seats

• Priyanka Vadra spoke with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav over phone on Wednesday to break the seat-sharing deadlock, sources said
• The two parties announced the tie-up in the evening with Congress set to contest 17 seats in UP, including Amethi, Raebareli and Varanasi

The Samajwadi Party will contest the remaining 63 seats in the state. There are 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. The SP, which had earlier announced its candidate for Varanasi constituency (represented by PM Narendra Modi), has now withdrawn the name in favour of the Congress. Meanwhile, the Congress is likely to offer the SP one seat, possibly Khajuraho, out of the total 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.

The seat-sharing announcement was made at a press conference in Lucknow. Samajwadi Party general secretary Rajendra Chaudhary and his Congress counterpart Avinash Pandey, while addressing the press conference, said the alliance was a message for the country.

“There are 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Akhileshji has said many times that the BJP had come to power at the Centre from here and it is because of Uttar Pradesh that it will lose power in 2024,” Chaudhary said, adding that “the situation in the country is very bad as farmers and youth are on the streets. The INDIA bloc’s dream is to save the country from the BJP”.

Pandey told reporters that the Congress had not yet decided on candidates for its seats, including the high-profile Amethi and Raebareli seats. “The Gandhi family considers both as their ‘home’ and will take a decision soon,” he said amid speculations that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may make her electoral debut from Raebareli as Sonia Gandhi has vacated the seat and shifted to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had indicated in Lucknow that all was well within the INDIA group. “All is well that ends well. Yes, there will be an alliance and there is no conflict. Everything will be clear soon,” Akhilesh was quoted as saying.

His party had earlier said he would join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing proposal was accepted. It is believed that after the SP chief served the ultimatum on the Congress, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra directly spoke to the SP chief, leading to the deal being finalised.