The Samajwadi Party announced on Wednesday that it will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress.
Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra told ANI that while his party will contest elections on 63 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats, Congress will field its candidates on 17 seats.
“We have tried to stop the scattering of non-Bharatiya Janata Party votes,” said Mehrotra. “We will try to get all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.”
The Samajwadi Party and Congress are constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA bloc, which is a coalition of 28 Opposition parties that plan to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the general elections.
The announcement came hours after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav indicated that the seat-sharing talks with Congress are nearly finalised.
During an interaction with mediapersons in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, Yadav asserted that an alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Congress would be formed.
“There is no conflict and everything will be clear in front of you very soon,” said the Samajwadi chief. “All is well that ends well.”
Negotiations for seat-sharing between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in Uttar Pradesh were going on for months.
Quoting Samajwadi Party’s chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, The Hindu reported on Monday that Yadav had offered 17 of the state’s 80 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress.
On January 27, the Samajwadi Party said it would give 11 seats to the Congress, but the Congress had sought 21 seats.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Avinash Pandey, who is the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge, on Sunday reached out to Samajwadi Party’s rival, the Bahujan Samaj Party, with an offer to join the INDIA bloc, saying that the doors of the Opposition alliance are open.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati declined the offer and, in a social media post, reiterated her party’s fposition that it would not join any alliance for the Lok Sabha polls.
Samajwadi Party has so far named candidates for 27 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats.
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