Samajwadi Party President and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that its seat-sharing talks with the Congress have seen a "promising start". This comes as the I.N.D.I.A. alliance is grappling with uncertainties with rumours of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's potential flip-flop to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as well as Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab choosing a solo path.


"Our amicable alliance with Congress on 11 strong seats is off to a promising start... This trend will continue to progress with the dynamics of victory," he posted on X.






The Congress also said that constructive seat-sharing talks are on between senior party leader Ashok Gehlot and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and their agreed on formula will be announced when it is finalised.


Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament and elections are due in April-May.


Asked about Akhilesh Yadav's post, Ramesh said during a press conference, "Gehlot is holding talks with Yadav over seat-sharing and it is taking place in a positive and constructive environment.We will inform you once a formula is finalised".


"The agreement that will be reached in Uttar Pradesh will be beneficial for the Congress, the SP, and the INDIA bloc," he added, as per news agency PTI.


In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the Congress secured two seats in Uttar Pradesh with a vote percentage of 7.53%. In 2019, it secured 1 seat with a reduced vote percentage of 6.36%.


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Lok Sabha Election 2024: Potential Seats For Congress, RLD To Contest In UP


 The following 11 seats are considered as potential seats for the grand old party in Uttar Pradesh:

   1. Raebareli
   2. Amethi
   3. Kanpur
   4. Saharanpur
   5. Fatehpur-Sikri
   6. Lucknow
   7. Dhaurehra
   8. Unnao (Contested by Samajwadi Party)
   9. Varanasi
   10. Kushinagar
   11. Barabanki
   12. Sant Kabir Nagar (Contested by Samajwadi Party, discussions about Shivpal Yadav contesting)
   13. Akbarpur (Contested by Samajwadi Party)
   14. Hamirpur
   15. Sitapur (Contested by Samajwadi Party)
   16. Pratapgarh (Contested by Samajwadi Party, candidate finalized)
   17. Mirzapur (Contested by Samajwadi Party)
   18. Basti
   19. Khiri

The following 7 seats are considered as potential seats for the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh:
   1. Mathura
   2. Baghpat
   3. Meerut
   4. Kairana
   5. Muzaffarnagar
   6. Amroha
   7. Bijnor


The Congress initially demanded 23 seats even. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the grand old party secured more than 8% of the votes in 19 seats. In the 2017 Assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party allocated more than 100 seats to Congress while the party's electoral performance in UP has been under scrutiny.


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