As per the agreement, Congress will contest 17 seats, while Samajwadi Party and other INDIA alliance partners will contest the remaining 63 seats.
In a first major breakthrough for the Opposition’s INDIA alliance, the Samajwadi Party and Congress have finalised a seat-sharing agreement in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The seat-sharing pact was announced in a joint press conference by the leaders of the two parties.
As per the agreement, the Congress will contest 17 seats whereas the Samajwadi Party and other INDIA alliance partners will contest the remaining 63 seats.
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“I am delighted to tell you that it has been decided that in Uttar Pradesh the INC will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA Alliance – from SP and other parties,” Uttar Pradesh Congress incharge Avinash Pande told reporters on Wednesday.
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The development comes hours after Akhilesh Yadav said that the alliance with the Congress is on and a decision will be announced soon.
“Yes, there will be an alliance. There is no conflict. Everything will be out and clear soon… All is well that ends well…,” Yadav said when reporters asked him about skipping Rahul Gandhi’s yatra.
Earlier, the talks reached a dead end after both parties failed to agree on three seats – Ballia, Moradabad, and Bijnor.
However, after intervention from Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the deal was finalised.
The Congress party will field it’s candidates from Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Amroha, Jhansi, Bulandshahar, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Sitapur, Barabanki, Deoria, Kanpur Nagar, Fatehpur Sikri, Basgaon, and Saharanpur.
Raebareli and Amethi has also been given to the Congress. The grand old party will also field it’s candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.
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