New Delhi: Seat-sharing on the 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh where by elections are due are turning into another tug-of-war between the INDIA bloc parties, Congress and the Samajwadi Party. As the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party announced the seventh candidate, it said that the Congress had agreed to contest on just two seat, a claim denied by the Grand Old Party.
"Our agreement is final with the Congress. Of the 10 seats, the Congress will contest on two Khair (Aligarh) and Ghaziabad, while on the rest eight,the SP will contest," SP Spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
Refuting Samajwadi Partry's claim, UP Congress chief Ajay Rai said, "We are not aware of this. As of now, we stand by our demand of five seats". Congress has been demanding five of the 10 seats going to polls in November.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party had announced candidates for six seats – Karhal (Mainpuri), Sisamau (Kanpur city), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Majhwan (Mirzapur) constituencies. Chaudhary had said that seat sharing arrangement with the Congress will be decided by party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Interestingly, the Congress has been demanding the Phulpur and Majhwan seats besides Ghaziabad, Khair (Aligarh) and Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar). Bypoll is also due in Kundarki (Moradabad).
Speaking on the alliance, Akhilesh Yadav had earlier asserted that the INDIA bloc parties will contest the upcoming by-elections together. Akhilesh Yadav, who was in his ancestral Saifai village on the occasion of his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s second death anniversary, said that the INDIA alliance is intact in Uttar Pradesh.
“It is not time to discuss anything political today, but the INDIA alliance is intact in UP [Uttar Pradesh]…Samajwadi Party and Congress will be in alliance in Uttar Pradesh. …we will discuss other political issues next time,” said Akhilesh Yadav.