“Everything is fine…”: Akhilesh Yadav hints at seat pact with Congress

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (left) and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (file).

New Delhi:

The struggling India Bloc got a welcome boost on Wednesday after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav suggested that seat-share talks with the Congress for 80 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh were almost complete.

This comes a day after Akhilesh Yadav gave an ultimatum to the Congress – ‘Complete the seat-share talks otherwise I will not participate in the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’,’ sources said.

“All’s well that ends well. Yes, there will be an alliance… there is no dispute. Everything will become clear soon,” Mr Yadav said smilingly. “We are waiting for confirmation from Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge)… We have agreed to change some seats in the interest of the alliance,” Congress general secretary Avinash Pandey told NDTV.

Sources told NDTV that Mr Yadav’s party will contest 62 seats, including 17 reserved for the Congress and one seat left for Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party. However, there are some sticking points.

The Congress is understood to want 19 seats, but has agreed to give up the Moradabad seat, which was won by Samajwadi Party’s ST Hasan in 2019. In return, the Samajwadi Party will withdraw its demand for Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency. There can also be an exchange of Sitapur and Hathras between the two. Samajwadi Party has been offered Bulandshahr or Mathura in exchange of Shravasti.

Sources said the final announcement is expected by 5 pm or Thursday.

The interaction between the two – seen as a barometer of India’s ability to consistently challenge the BJP’s formidable election-winning machinery – has been under scrutiny for the past few days, especially after Congress-AAP won the Chandigarh mayor election. after. The block’s first electoral victory.

Read | AAP wins Chandigarh mayor election, apex court cancels earlier results

As recently as this week it seemed that no agreement could be reached unless Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took action.

Congress sources said Ms Gandhi Vadra – who, according to rumours, may make her electoral debut from the Rae Bareli seat vacated by Sonia Gandhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections – did so.

Read | Names of Nitish Kumar and Priyanka Gandhi proposed for this big challenge

He reportedly worked out the details and approached Mr Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, whose ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ is now in UP, to seek their approval.

Sources also said Sonia Gandhi – whose move from the Lok Sabha to the Rajya Sabha led to talk of a leadership change in the party, with more emphasis on Ms Gandhi Vadra – also played a key role, convincing state leaders to accept some of the demands. Helped to deem it “inappropriate”. And it was “unrealistic” considering his party’s dismal performance in the 2014 and 2019 elections, when the Congress won less than 100 Lok Sabha seats.

Read | After Sonia Gandhi going to Rajya Sabha, the discussion regarding her Rae Bareli seat has intensified.

Also, in the 2022 UP Assembly elections, Congress got only two seats. Samajwadi Party got 111 seats.

The news is a big boost for the group which has been struggling for unity since its formation in June last year, with disagreements over seat-sharing topping the list of problems to be addressed.

The Congress-led faction has already seen Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar ousted and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal is also almost certain to lose in UP.

Read | “There was limited time to take a decision…”: RLD leader on BJP alliance discussion

Nitish Kumar has formed an alliance with BJP and it is believed that Jayant Chaudhary will also support him.

On the other hand, after Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury continuously criticized Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal said it is planning to contest 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state on its own.

Read | “No alliance with Congress”: Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal twist surprises India block

In Punjab, where Congress was defeated by AAP in the last election, the two have been unable to agree on a seat-share agreement. However, the hope is that the mayoral election victory will have a positive impact.

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