Lucknow: The tussle that began with the failure of talks on seats in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls continues to create trouble for I.N.D.I.A. The opposition alliance, it seems, will face rough weather with Samajwadi Party and Congress at loggerhead in Uttar Pradesh.
Irked over being left out in MP assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party first fielded more than six dozen candidates there and now it has hinted at giving very little space to congress in 80 Lok Sabha seats of UP. While addressing the national executive of SP in Lucknow, party chief Akhilesh Yadav hinted at contesting 65 of the total 80 LS seats in UP. He indicated to leave only 15 seats for the alliance parties of I.N.D.I.A. It may be mentioned that Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Apna Dal (K) are the main parties which have stakes in UP.
Congress-SP relations turn sour
The relations between Cong & SP, partners of recently formed I.N.D.I.A turned sour over seat sharing in MP assembly polls. While SP had asked for six seats in MP, the Congress was ready to give four only. Now SP has announced its candidate on over 70 seats in MP assembly polls and decided to rope in more parties with it.
SP Chief on Thursday said that if a seat sharing deal materializes in UP, his party would contest on 65 seats. He said that SP is prepared to contest all the 80 seats in UP but in case the I.N.D.I.A alliance remains, 15 seats can be given to allies. He said that SP can take on the challenge of BJP single handedly in UP.
SP chief vents his anger on Congress
Regarding feud within recently formed I.N.D.I.A, Akhilesh said that SP had requested for six seats only in MP assembly polls and that too with logic. `We only asked for seats where SP candidates were strong but Congress refused to give in’, he said.
Meanwhile reacting sharply at the announcement made by SP Chief, Congress spokesperson, Anshu Awasthi said that his party too is ready to contest all the 80 LS seats in UP. He said that the party has formed booth committees in all the seats and workers have been toiling hard.