LUCKNOW: Just three weeks before UP votes in the first phase, Samajwadi Party and Congress -- overcoming an extended period of hiccups -- signed their UP pact on Sunday to contest the forthcoming state elections together. As per the deal, while SP will contest on 298 seats, Congress 105. Akhilesh Yadav would be the CM face of the combine.
Making a formal announcement to this effect at a joint press conference here on Sunday, Samajwadi Party state president Naresh Uttam and Congress state chief Raj Babbar said that the alliance
was forged against communal and caste forces raising their head in the state and that it would introduce a new revolutionary era in the state politics. Calling it a historical alliance, Babbar sought the support of the people of the state more so a chance to work for people's welfare. "This tie-up will contribute to the growth and development of the nation as well," he added.
The two parties are upbeat at the prospect of consolidation of their respective vote share. In 2012, the combinbed vote share of SP and Congress was 40%, which is much higher than the average vote
share garnered by winning parties in UP.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party released another list of its 79 candidates after the declaration of alliance with Congress on Sunday, taking the total to 289 of its total share of 298. It is yet to
announce the tickets for five seats of state captial Lucknow, where Mulayam's younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is also one of the claimants.
In the latest list of 79, the ruling party declared three of five candidates for assembly constituencies in Rae Bareli, and two of five candidates for assembly seats in Amethi district leaving the rest two in Rae Bareli and three in Amethi for the Congress. Both the parties will now contest those seats on which they already have their sitting MLAs in the two districts, however, the Congress party is yet to come out with its first list.
Earlier, the alliance had hit a roadblock over seat-sharing on Friday when the ruling SP declared the names of 210 its 403 candidates - mainly from west UP and nine of these seats were the ones where Congress had won in 2012. As per the initial seat-sharing understanding, the two parties had agreed to the broader formula under which SP was supposed to leave those seats for Congress where the latter had sitting MALs and also those where it (Congress) remained runner up in the previous election.
It is believed that Amethi and Rae Bareli were also one of the areas of disagreement between the two prospective alliance partners. While SP was not supposedly ready to leave any of the seats in
Amethi and was adamant at contesting on all but one in Rae Bareli, Congress too hardened it stand seeking at least two seats in Amethi, its bastion and a prestige issue, as Amethi and Rae Bareli are represented by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, respectively, in Lok Sabha. Now, SP has left two seats in Rae Bareli and three seats
in Amethi for Congress.
Just when it appeared that the chances of a pact were almost over, in a new twist, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's close aide Ahmad Patel pitched in reviving the tie-up talks on late Saturday night. The suspense over the alliance still prevailed with the Congress hardening its stand and finalising candidates on 140 seats for the first two phases at its Central Election Committee (CEC). But keeping the hopes for alliance alive, the party did not declare the candidates with senior leaders saying that pact talks were still on.