Lok Sabha elections 2024: Akhilesh Yadav gives 17 seats to Congress party in hope of alliance, say sources

Lok Sabha elections news: Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, on Monday offered 17 Lok Sabha seats to Congress in the country's most populous in a last bid to forge an alliance with the grand old party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2024, India Today TV reported citing sources aware of the matter. 

The development came after the former Uttar Pradesh CM told reporters that he would join the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Tuesday only if a decision is taken on seat-sharing. Yadav said that lists are coming in from both sides. 

"Discussions are ongoing. Lists are coming from both sides. Once the seat allocation is finalised, the Samajwadi Party will join the Congress' Nyay Yatra," Akhilesh Yadav said.

Samajwadi Party-Congress seat-sharing talks

Negotiations regarding seat-sharing are ongoing between Yadav, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge but a deal has not been finalised yet. 

Sources within the Samajwadi Party told India Today TV that the number and names of seats have already been decided but Rahul Gandhi is adamant on certain seats, which is causing delay in finalising the alliance. 

The Congress party has given a list of 28 seats to the Samajwadi Party, of which 10 have a large Muslim population. They further said that Congress wants to field its candidates on seats like Moradabad and Ballia, two of which are considered Samajwadi Party strongholds. 

The grand old party wants the Ballia seat for state president Ajay Rai. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party won the Moradabad seat whereas the BJP won the Ballia seat. In Moradabad's mayoral election. the Congress lost by a few thousand votes. 

Also Read: ‘Discussions are ongoing’: Akhilesh Yadav as uncertainty looms over participation in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

Samajwadi Party candidate list in UP

The party on Monday announced 11 more candidates for Lok Sabha elections. Earlier on January 30, SP released the first list of candidates for 16 Lok Sabha seats. 

Muzaffarnagar: Harendra Malik

Ghazipur: Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's brother Afzal Ansari

Shahjahanpur: Rajesh Kashyap

Hardoi: Usha Verma

Misrikh: Rampal Rajvanshi

Mohanlalganj: RK Chaudhary

Pratapgarh: SP Singh Baghel

Bahraich: Ramesh Gautam

Gonda: Shreya Verma

Chandauli: Virendra Singh

Amla: Neeraj

Sambhal: Shafiqur Rahman Barq

Firozabad: Akshay Yadav

Mainpuri: Dimple Yadav

Eta: Devesh Shakya

Budaun: Dharmendra Yadav

Khiri: Utkarsh Verma

Dhaurahra: Anand Bhadauria

Unnao: Anu Tandon

Lucknow: Ravidas Mehrotra 

Farukhabad: Naval Kishore Shakya 

Akbarpur: Rajaram Pal

Banda: Shivshankar Singh Patel 

Faizabad: Avdesh Prasad 

Ambedkar Nagar: Lalji verma 

Basti: Ram Prasad Choudhary 

Gorakhpur: Kajal Nishad 

Also Read: 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Samajwadi Party releases first list of 16 candidates, Dimple Yadav to contest from Mainpuri