Samajwadi Party Considering To Contest Over 60 Lok Sabha Seats In UP, Will Negotiate With Congress, RLD: Report

Seat-sharing negotiations within the INDI Alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh have come to a point where the Samajwadi Party (SP) is considering leaving those seats for its ally parties which it hasn't won in several past elections.

According to Live Hindustan, the party is gearing up to contest more than 60 seats of the 80 in the state. It is said that SP president Akhilesh Yadav may allocate around 18 seats to the Congress and the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

The SP has historically not fielded candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, which are known as Congress bastions and have been mostly represented by members of the Gandhi family.

However, in the 2019 elections, BJP candidate Smriti Irani won the Amethi seat defeating Rahul Gandhi, while Sonia Gandhi retained her Rae Bareli seat, giving lone seat to the Congress from UP.

Sources suggest that besides these two seats, Akhilesh Yadav may decide not to contest in constituencies like Ghaziabad, Noida, Baghpat, Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, Agra, Pilibhit, Dhaurahra, Varanasi, Basti, Sultanpur, Lucknow, and Kanpur.

Soon, state-wise meetings will be held within the INDI Alliance to discuss seat distribution among parties.

Notably, Congress has demanded "at least 18 seats" citing its 2009 election performance when it won 21 Lok Sabha seats. Similarly, RLD had demanded to contest 12 Lok Sabha seats, citing its strong presence in western Uttar Pradesh.