Samajwadi Party Leader Says Seat-Sharing With Congress Finalised In UP

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Friday said the Congress and the Akhilesh Yadav-led party have finalised their seat-sharing agreement in Uttar Pradesh. SP will declare more candidates soon for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Asked whether the Congress can go with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in UP, Yadav said the two parties have already reached an agreement.

"We have declared 16 seats. We will declare more seats in a couple of days. So on and so forth. The Congress and the SP have reached a final agreement in Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said.

SP leader Dimple Yadav, meanwhile, said there should not be any further delay in deciding candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, and stressed that the upcoming polls will be about "saving the Constitution".

"This is an important election. It is an election to save the Constitution. There should not be any further delay," she said.

"Election is fought at the grassroots level. If candidates are decided in time they will get time to put up a strong fight against the BJP," she said.

Asked about the possibility of the BSP joining the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, she said, "Top leadership will decide that." The SP on Tuesday announced its first list of 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Sitting MP Dimple Yadav has been fielded from Mainpuri, while party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq will contest from Sambhal.

BSP Chief Mayawati had announced in January that her party will go solo in the Lok Sabha polls but did not rule out a post-poll alliance.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)