Congress could get more than 100 seats in alliance in Uttar Pradesh

The Congress could get more than a hundred seats in the alliance between itself and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, a senior SP leader told ET on the condition of anonymity. On Tuesday both parties confirmed an alliance has been sealed for the upcoming elections in the state. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the contours of the alliance would be announced in the next two days.

"The Congress could get more than 120 seats- far more than what has been widely reported," an SP leader told ET. Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) could be a marginal partner in the alliance, the person said.

Also Read: All the latest news and updates related to Assembly polls 2017


An agreement to fight the elections had been reached between the two parties earlier and was officially announced by both on Tuesday. Several media reports have quoted leaders saying the Congress would get a little lesser than a hundred seats. The number quoted by the SP leader seems to be almost double than what has been reported. "If Congress is given more than a hundred seats, it could create discontent among our own people especially since the election will be fought on Akhilesh Yadav's face," the leader admitted.

The Congress, according to this leader, has argued that it doesn't make sense for the party to get into a deal with the SP if it didn't get a 'reasonable' number of seats especially since it's needed to consolidate the Muslim vote. Importantly, Congress lawyers played a 'prominent' role in helping Akhilesh Yadav get the SP party symbol from the Election Commission.