New Delhi: In an indication that their talks have entered a rough patch, Samajwadi Party and Congress today decided to find ‘common ground’ in Uttar Pradesh, instead of carrying out discussions on a ‘seat-by-seat’ basis for the Lok Sabha polls.
The second round of seat-sharing talks between the two
parties saw both sides deciding to exchange lists of seats in
apparent attempts to avoid acrimony over the issue.
The move has come in the backdrop of the SP's refusal
to give an extra inch to the Congress in UP and also rejecting
suggestions for 'friendly fight' in a few seats like Rampur
and Pratapgarh which were won by the Samajwadi Party last
time.
Sources said that the idea to avoid talks on a seat-by-
seat basis was aimed at finding ‘common ground’ for a lasting
alliance.
The Congress side was led by Rahul Gandhi, with party
general secretary in-charge of UP Digvijay Singh and State
Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi also present.
SP general secretary Amar Singh and SP parliamentary
party leader Ram Gopal Yadav represented the Mulayam Singh
Yadav-led party.
Joshi later said the talks were cordial and the next
meeting would take place sometime next week. Amar Singh had a
meeting with Mulayam later but both refused to say anything on
the talks.
SP is also seeking a ‘few seats’ in Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Madhya Pradesh where the Congress is in a much better
position.
The SP had won 39 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections,
while the Congress had emerged victorious in nine
constituencies.
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