The Congress is requesting a third seat from the Samajwadi Party for the upcoming bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, as they are reportedly unhappy with the two seats initially allocated to them. According to sources, discussions regarding seat-sharing took place informally between Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav during the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
Currently, the Samajwadi Party has offered the Congress the Ghaziabad and Khair seats. However, the Congress is still pushing for the Phulpur seat, which the Samajwadi Party has already announced their own candidate for. Negotiations are ongoing between the parties, with top leaders from both sides working to finalize the seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming bypolls.
The pressure is high on the Congress to reassess its poll strategy following the disappointing results in the Haryana Assembly Elections and the party’s failure to secure a seat in the Jammu region. Speculations suggest that discussions have taken place regarding the Phulpur seat, currently contested by Mustafa Siddiqui, who was unsuccessful in the previous election.
The bypolls for nine seats in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for November 13, with the counting of votes set for November 20. These seats became vacant after the MLAs were elected as MPs in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, while the Samajwadi Party MLA from Sisamau, Irfan Solanki, was disqualified on criminal charges.
It is important to note that the Congress and Samajwadi Party had previously contested together as the INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha elections.
