In a major relief for Congress and I.N.D.I.A. bloc, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday (27th January) announced that his party’s alliance with the Congress is “off to a good start“. According to Akhilesh Yadav, his party has agreed to give 11 “strong” Lok Sabha seats in the state to the Congress party. However, as per media reports citing sources, Congress has not agreed to this formula.
Taking to X, the Samajwadi Party Supremo tweeted, “Our cordial alliance with Congress is off to a good start with 11 strong seats. This trend will move forward with the winning equation. ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ team and the ‘PDA’ strategy will change history.”
As per media reports, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress party has not accepted the deal, adding that it is not the Congress’ decision but rather taken by Akhilesh Yadav.
India Today reported that party sources had earlier stated that Congress was eying to contest 50 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
However, responding to reports that Congress leaders have rejected the 11-seat formula, the Samajwadi Party issued a clarification. The party said that it was a proposal and seats allocated for the Congress party under the I.N.D.I. alliance banner could be increased. According to the SP, if Congress informs Akhilesh Yadav about candidates who could win more seats, the quota for Congress could get higher.
Meanwhile, it is important to note that recently Akhilesh Yadav had lambasted the Congress party for the ongoing fissures within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. In an interview with India Today on Friday, Yadav said that the enthusiasm is completely missing in the Congress party to hold discussions with I.N.D.I. alliance partners.
The Former Uttar Pradesh CM lamented, “Congress should have come forward. The enthusiasm that Congress needed to show in discussing and engaging with the INDIA alliance was missing.”
Meanwhile, earlier on 19th January, Akhilesh Yadav had announced seat-sharing with Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and allocated 7 seats to the junior alliance partner. Another regional heavyweight, BSP, has announced to contest alone in the state.
Uttar Pradesh, which has given the most Prime Ministers to the country, has 80 Lok Sabha seats, which is the highest in the country. In 2014 and 2019, BJP, along with its allies, registered landslide victories, securing 73 and 62 seats respectively.
The Congress, which won 2 seats in 2014 in UP, ended up losing its once-stronghold Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani and won only 1 seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Major relief for Congress and I.N.D.I.A. bloc
While the Samajwadi Party clarified that it was Akhilesh Yadav’s 11-seat formula was just a proposal, the announcement comes as a major relief for Congress and the I.N.D.I. alliance. Earlier, the alliance suffered huge setbacks when the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab deserted the alliance.
Earlier on 24th January, All India Trinamool Congress head and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee snapped ties with Congress and announced that her party would fight alone in the state.
“I gave many proposals but they rejected them from the beginning. From then, we have decided to fight the elections in Bengal alone,” Ms Banerjee had said.
The Bengal Chief Minister also claimed she was not informed of Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra passing through Bengal, contrary to claims by the Congress that they had invited I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties to join the Yatra. The TMC also later denied permission for the Yatra to enter Siliguri.
It was followed by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann who delivered a further setback to the I.N.D.I. alliance. He declared that AAP will not form a coalition with the Congress party in the state and contest on all 13 seats in the state.
Additionally, there are widespread media reports that another alliance partner, JD(U) could also give a massive setback to the opposition alliance and jump ship to join NDA in days to come.