Lok Sabha Polls 2024: In First Breakthrough For INDIA Bloc, SP, Congress Finalize Seat Sharing In Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party and Indian National Congress in a joint press conference on Wednesday declared an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Speaking at the conference, Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande said, “I am happy to inform you that it has been agreed that in Uttar Pradesh the INC will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA Alliance - from SP and other parties.”

#WATCH | Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande says, "I am delighted to tell you that it has been decided that in Uttar Pradesh the INC will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA Alliance - from SP and other parties." pic.twitter.com/mRBa3ErTqQ

— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2024

The sources said earlier the Congress was getting a “bad deal” with seats where the chances of winning were low and the party was seeking alternative seats. As per an agreement reached after the phone call between Priyanka Gandhi and Yadav, the Congress has now got seats such as Sitapur and Barabanki.

Apart from these seats, the Congress is also likely to get Kanpur, Varanasi, Saharanpur, Amroha, Fatehpur Sikri and Jhansi among others. The Congress is now getting a “good deal” in the alliance, a source said. In the Moradabad division, the Congress was asking for two seats but has settled for Amroha only, the sources said.

समाजवादी पार्टी एवं भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस की संयुक्त प्रेस वार्ता। https://t.co/HWqKssPDyl — Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) February 21, 2024

Yadav on Wednesday said an alliance with the Congress will happen in Uttar Pradesh. His party had earlier said he would join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing offer for the polls is accepted. Yadav did not join the yatra in Raebareli on Tuesday.

There is a strong speculation that Yadav could join the yatra in Agra after the seat sharing deal is announced. On Monday, the SP had said it offered 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh to the Congress.

The SP and the Congress are partners in the INDIA bloc, formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the upcoming general elections.