For the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress finalised a seat-sharing agreement on Wednesday, putting an end to days of tension and squabbling between the two allies of the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc. While revealing the specifics of seat sharing, Avinash Pande, the Congress UP incharge, stated that Priyanka Gandhi was instrumental in bringing about a consensus.
The agreement states that the Congress will receive 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party and other allies from INDIA will compete for 63 seats in the UP. “I am delighted to tell you that it has been decided that in Uttar Pradesh the Congress will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA bloc – SP and other parties,” Avinash Pande stated.
According to Naresh Uttam Patel, the state president of the Samajwadi Party, “Akhilesh Yadav and Mallikarjun Kharge have done something that people of India needed and wanted for a long time.”
All is well that ends well – Akhilesh Yadav
Asserting the alliance with the Congress earlier today, Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of the SP, stated, “All is well that ends well.” With this, the animosity between the two parties that had prevented Akhilesh Yadav from participating in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state came to an end. The chief of the SP had maintained that he would only participate in the yatra if a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress was finalised. Akhilesh is probably going to follow Rahul Gandhi since he is still in the state on his yatra.
As negotiations with the establishment party came to a standstill, the Samajwadi Party also unveiled three lists of candidates. Akhilesh responded, “Everything works out in the end,” when questioned about his comments criticising the grand old party. Indeed, an alliance is planned. There’s no disagreement. Everything will soon be resolved.”
The Congress was initially offered 11 seats by the SP, but later received a larger offer of 17. But the old party insisted on having three extra seats. Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party tied for five seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In contrast, Sonia Gandhi’s seat in Rae Bareli was the only one that the Congress was able to take. The ancient party suffered a severe blow when Smriti Irani of the BJP defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, the party’s stronghold. The sharp drop in the party’s vote share in the state is another concern for Congress. In comparison, the Congress party received 7.47% of the vote in 2014; in 2019, its vote share was 6.31%.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party witnessed a decrease in its vote share from 22.18% in 2014 to 17.96%. With Jayant Choudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal poised to join the BJP-led NDA, Akhilesh Yadav has already lost a significant ally in the state. Although neither party has officially announced the decision, Jayant had already verified the action when PM Modi declared Chaudhary Charan Singh to be the recipient of the Bharat Ratna.
Seats where Congress will contest in UP
Rae Bareli, Amethi, Kanpur Nagar, Fatehpur Sikri, Bansgaon, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Varanasi, Amroha, Jhansi, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Sitapur, Barabanki and Deoria.