Congress To Fight On 17 Seats In UP, Akhilesh's SP Gets 63 Seats: Cong's UP In-Charge

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over phone on Wednesday to break the deadlock on Lok Sabha polls seat-sharing in UP.

File photo of Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.

Source : PTI

Ending speculations on the seat sharing ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024, Congress Uttar Pradesh In-charge Avinash Pande on Wednesday said that the grand-old party will contest 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while the SP and other parties will fight on 63 seats in the state.

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

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over phone on Wednesday to break the deadlock on Lok Sabha polls seat-sharing in UP and give a final shape to an alliance at the earliest, PTI quoted sources as saying.

Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande says, "I am delighted to tell you that it has been decided that in Uttar Pradesh the INC will contest on 17 seats and the remaining 63 seats will have candidates of INDIA Alliance - from SP and other parties." pic.twitter.com/whw8majpgI

— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2024

According to the agreement reached between Priyanka Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, the Congress has now got seats such as Sitapur and Barabanki.

The seat sharing comes hours after Akhilesh said his party will remain in alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024. 

Speaking on the seat-sharing with the Congress, the SP chief said, "All is well that ends well... Yes, there will be an alliance. There is no conflict. Everything will be out and clear soon... All is well that ends well." 

Speaking on the seat-sharing UP Congress president Ajay Rai said, “INDIA alliance will register victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and will defeat NDA. Our (Congress-Samajwadi Party) strategy is to stand firmly with each other. Samajwadi Party will contest elections on 63 seats while Congress will contest on 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh."

The Congress is also likely to get Kanpur, Varanasi, Saharanpur, Amroha, Fatehpur Sikri and Jhansi among others, PTI reported.

In the Moradabad division, the Congress was asking for two seats but has agreed on Amroha alone, the report said.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav, while reacting to the seat-sharing, said, "From the starting itself Samajwadi Party wanted the alliance, there was a little bit of delay because BJP is in front of us. I want to congratulate Samajwadi Party and Congress as the alliance has reached its destination. Its results will be very good and people will support us because youth, women, farmers... all of them are angry and disappointed. In the coming election, people will vote for us."

Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said an alliance with the Congress will happen in Uttar Pradesh. His party had earlier said he would join Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing proposal for the polls is accepted.

The SP chief did not join Rahul's yatra in Raebareli on Tuesday.

On Monday, the SP had said it offered 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh to the Congress. The SP and the Congress are partners in the INDIA bloc, formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.