Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2017: SP-Congress alliance in trouble, Akhilesh Yadav offers 99 seats, Rahul demands 120

As Congress leaders were holding talks with the SP to thrash out issues, SP leaders remained unmoved on Congress demands for more seats.

Lucknow, Jan 21: The fate of a pre poll alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections hung after both the parties remain unclear over the seat sharing for the elections. Even as Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azaad and a special emissary of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were holding talks with the SP to thrash out issues. SP leaders remained unmoved on Congress demands for more seats.

Congress party has been demanding for 120-130 seats out of the 403 seats of Uttar Pradesh. However, it is been reported that the Samajwadi chief is offering only 99 seats to Congress party.

Samajwadi party spokesman Rajendra Chowdhary on Saturday stated that Chief Minister and national president of the SP Akhilesh Yadav is to release his party’s manifesto on Sunday. Earlier it was supposed to be happening at a joint event of the Congress and SP. Samajwadi Party had already released its first list of 191 candidates that also included several seats held by Congress party.

As the SP released the list of candidates, which included Shivpal Yadav, the estranged uncle of Akhilesh, and fielded nominees for seats represented by the Congress in the assembly, its vice president Kiramoy Nanda said the party was yet to get a “positive response” from Congress on the alliance issue. He said SP was prepared for an alliance with Congress, for which it could spare 85 of the state’s 403 seats and not more. Nanda made it clear that though his party favoured a pre-poll pact with Congress, it had to be on “our own terms”.

Senior Congress and party spokesperson Ajay Maken described the announcement of candidates as “unfortunate” and he expressed that such announcement of candidates should not been done by Samajwadi Party at a time when talks between both the parties were been held. “It is unfortunate… We were expecting that the seats and other… technical details which were agreed upon and concluded upon between Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders should be honoured,” he said.

However, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal speaking to ANI stated that the pre-poll alliance will almost not work as Congress is demanding for 120 seats whereas Samajwadi Party is ready to grant them 100 seats.

The statements are being seen as an indication that the SP leadership was not very keen to tie up with the Congress though initially the first step was taken by it only. Akhilesh Yadav, then battling power centres in his party, had said a tie up with Congress would mean 300 plus seats for the combine.

Kareeb kareeb tuth hi gaya hai gathbandhan, UP CM 100 seats de rahe the lekin Cong 120 seat ke niche maan nahi rha tha: Naresh Agrawal, SP pic.twitter.com/BK5ksl4P7j

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 21 January 2017

Sources in the Congress camp however continue to be optimistic about the alliance taking shape soon.

(Alliance) ka kal subah tak pata chal jayega: GN Azad, Congress when asked on SP-Cong alliance #UPpollspic.twitter.com/zAF82nZBhU

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 21 January 2017

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad stated that the whole scenario of the alliance will be cleared by tomorrow morning. 

Uttar Pradesh is all set to go into phase 1 of the polls on February 11. The state will witness polls in seven phases where counting of the votes will be held on March 11.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)