Major Blow To I.N.D.I.A Bloc In UP As Congress-SP Seat Sharing Talks Fall Apart: Sources

Sources informed ABP News that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav refused to give up the Moradabad, Ballia, and Bijnor seats to the Congress.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav. ( Image Source :PTI )

In what could prove to be a major setback to I.N.D.I.A bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Congress and the Samajwadi Party were unable to strike a seat-sharing deal late on Monday. Sources informed ABP News that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav refused to give up the Moradabad, Ballia, and Bijnor seats to the Congress. They claimed that Congress was seeking for the Ballia seat (considered a Samajwadi Party stronghold) for itself. 

The sources further claimed that after breaking up with Congress, Samajwadi Party has decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on its own. Soon, SP will release the names of the candidates for the 80 lok sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

As seat-sharing discussions failed to achieve an agreement, the Samajwadi Party supremo will not take part in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, as Akhilesh Yadav had earlier stated that he would not participate in the yatra unless seat-sharing with the Congress was finalised.

"Right now talks are going on, lists have come from them, we have also given them the list. The moment, seat distribution is done, Samajwadi Party will join their Nyaya Yatra," Yadav told reporters on Monday. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party bagged the Moradabad seat. However, in the Moradabad mayor's election, the Congress secured second position and lost by a razor-thin margin.

According to the sources, the Samajwadi Party on Monday offered the Congress 17 Lok Sabha seats including Amethi, Rae Bareli, Varanasi, Amroha, Baghpat, Saharanpur,Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Fatehpur Sikri, Hathras, Jhansi, Barabanki, Kanpur, Sitapur, Kaiserganj, and Maharajganj. However, Congress demanded 20 seats.  

On Monday, the Samajwadi Party announced 11 additional candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the forthcoming general elections, including Mukhtar Ansari's brother and BSP MP Afzal Ansari, news agency PTI reported. On January 30, the SP unveiled its initial list of candidates for Uttar Pradesh's 16 Lok Sabha seats.

Of the 11, four belongs to the backward community, and five haild from the Scheduled Caste category.