Congress would contest 105 seats while the Samajwadi Party would fight in 298 seats in the state.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, left, and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
After days of negotiation, the Samajwadi Party and Congress forged an alliance for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Congress would contest from 105 seats while the Samajwadi Party would fight in 298 seats in the state.
The decision was made following numerous rounds of discussion in the past few weeks. While the Congress was looking to take smaller allies like the Rashtriya Lok Dal on board, according to the Hindustan Times, the Samajwadi Party only wanted an alliance with the Congress.
Talks between the two parties appeared to hit a wall on Saturday over seat-sharing, which led Congress president Sonia Gandhi to intervene and reach out to Yadav. While the Samajwadi Party had offered 99 seats, the Congress had continued to bargain for more.
According to an Indian Express report, Yadav was reluctant to part with more since seats as his party wanted to contest 300 seats on its own.
The state chief minister and Samajwadi Party president also released his party’s maninfesto on Sunday during which he hit out at the BJP government over its failure to deliver on its promise to bring ‘achche din.’ Yadav, however, is yet to make an official announcement on the party’s alliance with Congress, the Indian Express reported.
At the manifesto release, Yadav promised a number of schemes for the all-round development of the state.
The manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women, PTI reported.
The chief minister also directed all candidates to prepare a roadmap for the development of their respective assembly constituencies.
(With PTI inputs)