Samajwadi Party, Congress Encounter Seat-Sharing Obstacles In Uttar Pradesh For 2024 Lok Sabha Elections: Report

Negotiations for seat-sharing between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh seem to be encountering obstacles, according to the Deccan Herald.

Sources indicate that the SP is hesitant to allocate more than five to six constituencies to the Congress in the state, whereas the Congress is pushing for approximately two dozen seats.

The foundation of this controversy is Congress' performance in the state during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in which it managed to secure only one seat in Raebareli, represented by Sonia Gandhi.

During those elections, the Congress lost its stronghold of Amethi, where senior party leader Rahul Gandhi was defeated by Union Minister Smriti Irani.

On the other hand, the Congress is advocating for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as the benchmark for seat sharing. In 2009, the Congress independently won 21 seats in the state.

A state Congress leader commented, "We are seeking at least 18 seats where we believe we can emerge victorious." However, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP has been unwilling to concede to the Congress's demands.

A few days ago, Akhilesh Yadav had stated that his party would not request seats from the INDI Alliance; instead, they would offer seats to their alliance partners, clearly asserting their dominance in Uttar Pradesh.

SP leaders have pointed out that they also need to allocate seats to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in the western region. Additionally, they mentioned accommodating Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar and Apna Dal (Krishna Patel).

Sources speculate that the recent verbal sparring between UP Congress president Ajay Rai and SP leaders stems from the SP's reluctance to comply with the Congress's demands.

Rai had accused the SP of "backstabbing" by fielding its candidate in the Bageshwar assembly seat in Uttarakhand during a recent by-poll, resulting in the Congress candidate's narrow loss to the BJP candidate.

Furthermore, Rai had expressed the Congress's readiness to contest from all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections.