Congress Likely To Stake Claim To 30 Lok Sabha Seats In Uttar Pradesh

The Congress is likely to stake claim to 30 Lok Sabha seats, including Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh in seat-sharing talks with INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The preliminary talks on seat-sharing between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party leaders were held in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Samajwadi Party was represented by senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and Javed Ali while Congress leader and former Union minister Salman Khurshid attended the meeting.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had urged the Congress to finalise the seat- sharing formula before the launch of the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra commencing from Manipur on January 14.

“The discussion with the SP was in the right direction and amicable. Along with seat-sharing, the discussion was also on strengthening the alliance to send a message to the people that alliance was working as a cohesive group. The SP leaders were informed about the Congress intention to field candidates on 30 Lok Sabha seats in U.P,” said a Congress leader familiar with the developments at the meeting.

The second round of talks between the Congress and SP leaders on seat-sharing will be held on January 13.

“The Congress central leadership is holding talks with alliance partners on seat- sharing,” Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai said.

Rai was in Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the zonal dialogue programmes and workshops to be held by the Congress in Uttar Pradesh (from January 11 to 18) in Meerut, Kanpur, Mathura, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Lucknow.

The Congress, which bagged one seat in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and polled 6.3% votes, has diligently prepared a list of constituencies after thoroughly scrutinising the strength of the party in all the 80 Lok Sabha seat in the state, a Congress leader said.

Along with the 21 seats that the Congress won in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the party is also eyeing the Muslim-dominated seats in West U.P. In the recent U.P. Jodo Yatra that covered 11 districts and 16 Lok Sabha constituencies in West and Central U.P, the tilt of the Muslims toward the Congress was clear and the message has gone to the alliance partners, this leader said.

The Congress is also considering to stake claim to Lucknow, Badaun, Ballia, Prayagraj, Sitapur and Aonla Lok Sabha seats, he said.

The party has a strong presence in Kanpur, Pratapgarh, Farrukhabad, Jhansi, Bareilly, Unnao, Moradabad, Domariyaganj, Barabanki, Maharajaganj and Sultanpur Lok Sabha seats, he said.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi will spend 11 days in Uttar Pradesh covering 20 districts. The route map of the yatra has been planned through the constituencies in which the party plans to field candidates in the Lok Sabha election.

The yatra will enter U.P. through Chandauli district. It will pass through Varanasi, Bhadohi, Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow, Sitapur, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Rampur, Moradabad, Meerut, Aligarh, Hathras, Kasganj, Mathura and Agra districts. The party has a significant presence in these districts that were once its strongholds.