Will Akhilesh Yadav Join Rahul Gandhi's Yatra? His Condition For Congress
NDTV
Samajwadi Party has said that it is only willing to let Congress contest on 15 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Several opposition parties had joined hands last year to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But the Congress and its alliance partners have failed to make headway on seat-sharing talks, and whether or not INDA bloc will contest the 2024 polls together remains unclear. In the latest blow to the Congress, the Samajwadi Party has put forth a challenging condition if the party wants their support in Uttar Pradesh.
According to sources, Samajwadi has said that it is only willing to let Congress contest on 15 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. In 2019, the Congress had won 44 seats -- very few of them in in the northeast or the Hindi belt. In Uttar Pradesh, it won only one seat, Raebareli, as Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani in Amethi.
In 2019, Samajwadi had refrained from contesting in Amethi and Rae Bareli as a gesture of courtesy toward the Congress. However, this time around, the party has taken a firm stand, offering 15 seats to the Congressand are adamant that the Congress can't fight on any other seats if the alliance stands. The ball is now in Congress's court, and the response is awaited.
