Congress-Samajwadi Party seat-sharing deal in Madhya Pradesh as well: Sources

After Uttar Pradesh, Congress and the Samajwadi Party are likely to come to terms on seat-sharing in Madhya Pradesh as well, sources said on Wednesday.

Congress may offer the Khajuraho seat in MP to the Samajwadi Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, sources said, hinting that the deal struck between the two INDIA bloc parties in UP may extend to Madhya Pradesh as well.

The development comes not long after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav confirmed that alliance talks with the Congress are underway in UP.

Both parties have reached an agreement and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke to Akhilesh Yadav on the matter, sources earlier told India Today TV.

Ending speculation of the seat-sharing talks between both parties, Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said that Congress would contest 17 seats, while



Samajwadi Party and others would contest 63 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Giving up the demand for the Moradabad seat, the Congress is now asking for Sitapur, Shravasti, and Varanasi seats in Uttar Pradesh.

"All is well that ends well...there is no dispute...there will be an alliance," Akhilesh Yadav said when asked about his absence from Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in Amethi and Rae Bareli.

He had on Monday said that he would join Rahul Gandhi's yatra only after seat sharing was finalised.

It was earlier reported that the Samajwadi Party had offered 17 seats to Congress as the "final offer" before the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress was being given a "raw deal" with seats where winnability was low and the party was asking for alternative constituencies, news agency PTI reported.