In fresh jolt to INDIA, Akhilesh skips Rahul Yatra in Amethi as SP raises seat-sharing heat on Cong

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chauhary also told The Indian Express that the party has offered 17 seats to the Congress.

Akhilesh’s announcement came a fortnight after he wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to assure him about his joining the Yatra either in Amethi or Rae Bareli, while wishing success for the UP leg of the Yatra.

The Amethi and Raebareli parliamentary constituencies are among the Congress’s few remaining strongholds in UP.

On February 6, Akhilesh had received the Congress leadership’s invitation to join Rahul’s cross-country Yatra that entered UP on February 16. While asserting that he will join it in Amethi or Raebareli, the SP chief also claimed that the INDIA alliance along with his party’s strategy centred on “PDA” – Picchde (backward classes or OBCs), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities) – will create a “new history of victory”.

Rahul’s Yatra traversed Amethi Monday, where he along with Kharge addressed a public rally at Babuganj. Rahul stayed in Amethi for the night and will resume his Yatra for neighbouring Rae Bareli on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, Akhilesh said that the seat-sharing talks with the INDIA partner Congress were continuing. “Several rounds of dialogues have happened and several lists (of seats) have been exchanged. When seat distribution will be finalised, Samajwadi Party will join Congress’s Nyay Yatra,” he said.

Akhilesh’s announcement was clearly aimed at increasing the pressure on the Congress over the seat-sharing exercise.

Last month, the SP supremo had sprung a surprise by unilaterally offering 11 Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in UP. Caught off guard, the Congress said the seat-sharing talks with the SP were still on. Sources said the Congress has demanded more seats. On January 30, the SP announced its candidates for 16 seats.

On the SP’s bid to offer 17 seats to the Congress, Rajendra Chaudhary pointed out that this marked an increase from

11 seats offered earlier to the latter. “Congress has to give consent for contesting these 17 seats, following which seat-sharing will be finalised. Akhilesh ji will join Congress’ Yatra in Rae Bareli only after that.”

The SP’s Raebareli unit has also not received any communication from the party leadership so far about Akhilesh’s visit.

The Apna Dal (K)’s leader and SP MLA Pallavi Patel and her party leaders had joined the Yatra in Varanasi on Saturday. Sources said that her move had upset the SP leadership.

Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said, “In the prevailing situation, protecting democracy is more important than seat-sharing. Everyone including SP will have to show a big heart to strengthen the INDIA alliance.”

Awasthi expressed hope that Akhilesh will join the Yatra.

Dealing a blow to the INDIA bloc in UP recently, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary, Akhilesh’s key UP ally, crossed over to the BJP-led NDA.

The support of the SP in Amethi and Rae Bareli is crucial for the Congress because the grand old party had regularly managed to win these seats over the past few decades despite its poor show in the state due to the former’s backing among other factors.

The SP had last contested the Lok Sabha elections in Amethi in 1999, when it had fielded Kamarujjama Fauzi who had finished fourth with 2.67 per cent votes. Sonia Gandhi was elected there with 67 per cent vote share.

In the 2004 polls, the SP gave a walkover to Rahul in Amethi by not fielding its candidate. It was Rahul’s electoral debut which he won. The SP had fielded its candidate against Sonia in Raebareli though, where she again won.

The SP did not field its candidates in Amethi and Raebareli in 2009 and 2014 against Rahul and Sonia, with both leaders clinching their respective seats smoothly.

In 2019, when the SP had tied up with the BSP and the RLD, their alliance again gave a walkover to Rahul in Amethi and Sonia in Raebareli. While Sonia Gandhi retained her seat, Rahul lost to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi.

Sonia has now bid farewell to electoral politics and her Raebareli seat, deciding to file nomination for the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan. She is likely to be replaced by her daughter Priyanka Gandhi as the Congress candidate from Raebareli in the Lok Sabha polls.