LUCKNOW: After making an impressive comeback in recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the INDIA Alliance partners — Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) — have reportedly commenced the deliberations for a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming bypoll to 10 assembly segments to be held later this year.
Both political parties, which had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election as partners of opposition bloc, had announced to fight the bypoll, necessitated by the victory of sitting MLAs in Lok Sabha polls, in alliance. However, a decision over the number of seats that each partner will contest is yet to be decided.
Notably, of the 10 Assembly seats which will go to polls, five were held by the SP, three by the BJP, one each by BJP allies RLD and NISHAD party. As per the UPCC chief Ajai Rai, the discussion over the seat sharing were on at the highest level as the two partners would fight the bypoll in alliance.
Although the number of seats to be shared between the two is still unknown, the buzz among the senior Congress leaders is that the grand old party will seek those seats which were held by the BJP and its allies.
UP assembly had declared these 10 seats vacant between June 7 and 18 and the bypoll there will be held within six months from the date of vacancy.
The ECI may hold the bypoll there along with the election to assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra, later this year.
The five seats held by SP comprise of Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Kundarki (Moradabad) and Sisamau (Kanpur). The seat of Sisamau has been vacated by sitting SP MLA Irfan Solanki who has been disqualified owing to his conviction and a sentence of seven years in a criminal case.
Of them, Katehari has been vacated by SP MLA Lalji Verma who got elected to Lok Sabha from Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat.
Similarly, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav resigned from Karhal (Mainpuri) assembly seat after winning from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.
CPI seeks ‘proper’ seat deal
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is expecting that it will get more seats to contest in the upcoming assembly elections in three states — Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana — under ‘proper’ seat-sharing arrangement as part of the INDIA alliance. Buoyed by the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls, party general secretary D Raja said that there should be a proper seat-sharing arrangements among the INDIA bloc members for the polls.