UP polls: SP, Congress tussle over seat sharing, alliance seems to fall apart

New Delhi: The alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party hit a roadblock on Saturday over the matter of seat distribution, as the former was demanding more seats than the latter for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections

Speaking to media, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said while Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was offering 100 seats, the Congress demanded 120 seats.

"The Chief Minister offered 100 seats to Congress, but they were not ready for less than 120 seats. We told the Congress that we have 234 sitting MLAs and we need to give them tickets as well. Since there are a few others as well, there is no chance of us fighting on less than 300 seats," said Uttam.

Taking a dig at Congress, Uttam further said the party was demanding more seats as if it was "influential" in Uttar Pradesh. "But the Congress was rigid with their demand as if they have great influence in the region and Uttar Pradesh cannot function without them," he added.

Later, Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC) on Saturday held a meeting to finalise candidates for 140 seats in the first two phases.

Leaving scope for an alliance, the party, however, did not declare the seats for the first two phases of elections in the state with leaders saying that talks with SP are continuing.

Congress general secretary and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said the CEC finalised its candidates for 140 seats for the first and second phase of polls.

"We have cleared seats for first and second phase. We had a meeting of CEC for first and second phase," he told reporters after the meeting.

Asked if the alliance with SP was on or over, he said, "Let us see, You will know by tomorrow morning when the announcement is made."

The Samajwadi Party leader further blamed the Congress for breaking the alliance and said this development will give a big boost to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"We gave it our all to ensure that this alliance is forged, but could not do anything because of Congress' rigidity," he added.

According to sources, the main bone of contention between the two parties were the Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Gandhi family strongholds, where the Congress wanted more seats but the Samajwadi Party was unwilling to field their 'failed' candidates on the same.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will release the party's manifesto at 11 am on Sunday in Lucknow.