Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav Break Deadlock, Seal SP-Congress Alliance For 2024 In UP

Samajwadi Partyleader Ravidas Mehrotra has also confirmed the details of the an alliance with Congress for the Lok Sabha Election 2024 after party chief Akhilesh Yadav's confirmation earlier today.

New Delhi: After the confirmation of an alliance with the Congress by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, another party leader Ravidas Mehrotra also announced the details of the tie-up for the Lok Sabha Election 2024. Mehrotra said that the Samajwadi Party will fight on 63 seats and Congress on 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh. “Samajwadi Party and Congress will fight Lok Sabha elections together. This will strengthen the INDI alliance and INDIA will form its government in 2024. The opposition parties will fight the election together. We have tried to prevent the fragmentation of non-BJP votes,” Mehrotra told ANI.

“Samajwadi Party will fight on 63 seats and Congress on 17 seats. We will try to win all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh,” he added. The Samajwadi Party leader also accused the BJP-led central government of abusing the central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), etc.

Priyanka, Akhilesh Break Deadlock

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had a phone conversation with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday to resolve the impasse on seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and finalize the alliance as soon as possible, sources said. They said the alliance was almost done and the only seat on which the SP has to decide is Shrawasti which the Congress is demanding.

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 “fair 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.

Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that an alliance with the Congress will happen in Uttar Pradesh, days after his party said he would join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing offer for the Lok Sabha polls is accepted. Yadav did not join the yatra in Raebareli on Tuesday.

“Yes, it (alliance) will happen in Uttar Pradesh. It will be announced soon,” the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief told reporters in Moradabad when he was asked about a partnership with the Congress in the state. 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. The Yadav-led party had earlier offered 11 seats to the Congress.