LUCKNOW: Uncertainty looms large over the INDIA alliance of the opposition bloc in Uttar Pradesh, with a seat-sharing pact between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress for the Lok Sabha still being a distant dream. Moreover, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is reportedly skipping Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, saying that he would join Gandhi only after the seat-sharing pact between the two parties gets sealed.
Akhilesh was to join the yatra in Rae Bareli on Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, the SP offered 17 seats to the Congress, calling it the final offer to the grand old party. Notably, the negotiations between the two parties had been going on with Congress initially demanding 25 seats but then scaling it down to 21. However, the SP does not want to spare more than 17 seats for its ally.
Last month, the SP chief unilaterally announced 11 Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in UP. Caught off guard, the baffled leadership of UP Congress said that the seat-sharing talks with the SP were still on and the central leadership would take the final decision.
Later, the SP released the first list of candidates for 16 seats, including many like Lakhimpur Kheri and Farrukhabad, which the Congress had demanded. Meanwhile, on Monday, immediately after offering 17 seats to the Congress, the SP released a second list of 11 party candidates for the polls. It covered at least three seats, which the Congress was demanding.
Dealing a blow to the INDIA bloc in the state, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary recently decided to part ways and switch over to the ruling NDA.
However, the support of the SP in Amethi and Rae Bareli is significant for the Congress as it has been winning both seats over the past few decades, banking upon the former’s support. SP and BSP have not been fielding their candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli in support of the Congress for the last few elections to check the division of votes.