'All is well that ends well': Akhilesh Yadav confirms UP alliance for INDIA bloc; Congress to contest on 17 seats

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party and the Congress on Wednesday sealed a seat-sharing deal in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections ending days of suspense and bickering between the two allies of INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc. The Congress UP incharge Avinash Pande, while announcing the details of seat sharing, said Priyanka Gandhi played a crucial role in reaching an agreement. As per the deal, Samajwadi Party and other INDIA allies in UP will contest on 63 seats while the Congress will get 17 seats.

"I am delighted to tell you that it has been decided that in Uttar Pradesh the Congress will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA bloc - SP and other parties," Avinash Pande said.

Samajwadi Party state president Naresh Uttam Patel said, "Akhilesh Yadav and Mallikarjun Kharge ji have done something that people of India needed and wanted for a long time."




'All is well that ends well'

Earlier today, confirming the alliance with Congress, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "All is well that ends well." This marked the end of bitterness between the two parties which had resulted in Akhilesh Yadav not joining Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state. The SP chief had insisted that he will join the yatra only after seat-sharing deal is finalised with the Congress. With Rahul still in the state with his yatra, it is likely that Akhilesh will eventually join Rahul Gandhi.

Samajwadi Party had also released three list of candidates as talks with the grand old party hit a roadblock. When asked about his remarks against the grand old party, Akhilesh said "All is well that ends well. Yes, there will be an alliance. There is no conflict. Everything will be out and clear soon."


The SP had originally offered 11 seats to the Congress and later had increased the offering to 17. However, the grand old party wanted three more seats. There are 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party had tied up with the Bahujan Samaj Party and had won 5 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, could win just one seat - Rae Bareli that was retained by Sonia Gandhi. In a huge setback, the grand old party lost in its bastion of Amethi where Rahul Gandhi was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani. What would also worry the Congress is the sharp decline in its vote share in the state. The Congress vote share in 2019 was 6.31% while in 2014 the party got 7.47% of votes.

The Samajwadi Party also saw its vote share decline to 17.96% in 2019 Lok Sabha elections from 22.18% in 2014. Akhilesh Yadav has already lost a key partner in the state with Jayant Choudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal all set to join the BJP-led NDA. While the formal announcement has not been made by either side, Jayant had confirmed the move after PM Modi announced Bharat Ratna for Chaudhary Charan Singh.

List of seats which Congress will contest in UP
Rae Bareli
Amethi
Kanpur Nagar
Ffatehpur Sikri
Bansgaon
Saharanpur
Prayagraj
Maharajganj
Varanasi
Amroha
Jhansi
Bulandshahr
Ghaziabad
Mathura
Sitapur
Barabanki
Deoria

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