Samajwadi Party Offers 15 Seats In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav To Join Rahul Gandhi's Yatra If Congress Accepts It: Report

Samajwadi Party (SP) is said to have offered 15 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh under the seat-sharing arrangement under INDI Alliance, according to sources cited by NDTV.

Moreover, this is also the reported condition set by the SP, for national president Akhilesh Yadav to join Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is currently in UP's Pratapgarh.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that he is expecting Yadav to join the Yatra tomorrow (20 February). However, the SP has now reportedly put the ball in Congress' court and awaiting their response.

There are 80 seats from UP in Lok Sabha, of which Congress won one in the 2019 elections and two in 2014. It was expecting to get around 20 seats based on its 2009 performance when it won 21 seats.

However, the SP announced earlier that it is starting seat-sharing with Congress on 11 seats, and then went on to announce candidates for 16 seats unilaterally, many of which Congress was expecting for itself.

This had created drift within the alliance and subsequently, Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) left it to join BJP-led NDA.