Uttar Pradesh: In a bid to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance and development model in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress and Samajwadi Party on Thursday confirmed an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, overcoming initial obstacles to reach a seat-sharing agreement, concluding tensions within the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.
Under the agreement, the Samajwadi Party and other INDIA allies in UP will contest 63 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, confirmed by Congress UP Incharge Avinash Pande.
“I am delighted to announce that the Congress and Samajwadi Party have decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election together. The Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Samajwadi Party will contest the remaining 63 seats,” said Avinash Pande.
Later in the day, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav stated that the party would join the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, indicating ongoing discussions on seat allocation.
“All is well that ends well; yes, there will be an alliance with the Congress. There is no conflict. Everything will be clarified soon after internal party meetings,” said Yadav.
The list of seats allocated to the Congress in UP includes Deoria, Barabanki, Sitapur, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Jhansi, Amroha, Varanasi, Mahrajganj, Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Bansgaon, Fatehpur Sikro, Kanpur Nagar, Amethi, and Rae Bareli. Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi have confirmed to join each other on 25th February in Agra during Nyay Yatra.
In a further development, the Samajwadi Party announced 11 new candidates, including the brother of don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.
With UP being one of the largest states in terms of Lok Sabha seats and a melting pot of various castes and religious communities, all political parties are striving to maintain strongholds and impress the voters across the region.
