The struggling INDIA bloc received a welcome boost Wednesday after Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav suggested seat-share talks with the Congress – for Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats – were nearly completed.

This, sources said, comes a day after Akhilesh Yadav gave the Congress an ultimatum of sorts – ‘complete seat-share talks or I won’t participate in the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”.

“All is well that ends well. Yes, there will be an alliance… there is no conflict. Everything will be clear soon,” a smiling Mr Yadav said. Congress’ General Secretary, Avinash Pandey, told NDTV, “We are awaiting confirmation from Congress President (Mallikarjun Kharge)… we agreed to change some seats in the interest of the alliance.”

Sources told NDTV that Mr Yadav’s party will contest 62 seats, with 17 reserved for the Congress and one left to Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party. There are, though, some sticking points.

The Congress is understood to want 19 but has agreed to give up Moradabad, which was won by the Samajwadi Party’s ST Hasan in 2019. In return, the Samajwadi Party will withdraw its demand for Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s constituency. The two may also swap Sitapur and Hathras. And the Samajwadi Party has been offered Bulandshahr or Mathura in exchange for Shravasti.

A final announcement is expected at 5 pm or by Thursday latest, sources added.

Talks between the two – seen as a barometer of INDIA’s ability to mount a sustained challenge to the BJP’s formidable poll-winning machinery – have been under scrutiny over the past few days, particularly after the Congress-AAP won the Chandigarh mayoral election to mark the bloc’s first electoral win.

READ | AAP Wins Chandigarh Mayor Poll, Top Court Cancels Earlier Result

As recently as this week it looked like there could be no deal, till Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stepped in.

Congress sources said Ms Gandhi Vadra – who might, rumours say, make her electoral debut in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, from the Raebareli seat vacated by Sonia Gandhi – made it happen.

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She reportedly worked out the details and reached out to Mr Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, whose ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ is now in UP, to get their approval.

Sources also said Sonia Gandhi – whose Lok Sabha-to-Rajya Sabha switch led to talk of a leadership shift in the party, with greater emphasis on Ms Gandhi Vadra – also played a key role, helping state leaders recognise some demands as “unreasonable” and “unrealistic” given her party’s dismal performances in the 2014 and 2019 elections, when the Congress won less than 100 Lok Sabha seats.

READ | After Sonia Gandhi’s Rajya Sabha Shift, Buzz Around Her Raebareli Seat

Also, in the 2022 UP Assembly election, the Congress won just two seats. The Samajwadi Party won 111.

The news comes as a big boost for the grouping that has struggled for cohesion since it was formed in June last year, with disagreements over seat-sharing high on the list of problems to be overcome.

The bloc, led by the Congress, has already seen the exit of Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) boss Nitish Kumar and is almost certain to also lose Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal in UP. 

READ | “Had Limited Time To Make Decision…”: RLD Leader On BJP Alliance Buzz

Nitish Kumar has allied with the BJP and Jayant Chaudhary is expected to follow.

And over in Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress said it plans to contest the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats on its own, after persistent criticism of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by the Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

READ | “No Tie-Up With Congress”: Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal Twist Stuns INDIA Bloc

In Punjab, where the Congress was beaten by the AAP in the last election, the two have been unable to agree a seat-share deal. The hope, though, is that the mayoral election win will have a positive impact.

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Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav today said there was no conflict with the Congress and that the seat-sharing talks were nearly completed after weeks of blowing hot and cold. The breakthrough, sources say, could be achieved after an intervention by senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and her daughter and party general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

According to sources, Ms Vadra initiated the talks and got both parties to the negotiation table. She first spoke with her brother Rahul Gandhi – whose Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is in Uttar Pradesh – and then with Mr Yadav to break the deadlock on Lok Sabha elections seat-sharing in the state and give a final shape to the alliance at the earliest, they said.

Mr Yadav’s party will contest 62 seats, with 17 reserved for the Congress and one left to Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party.

The Congress had earlier sought 19 seats for itself.

The Congress has agreed to give up Moradabad seat after the talks, sources said. In return, the Samajwadi Party may withdraw its candidate from Varanasi. The Congress high command has asked two more changes – swap Sitapur and Hathras – Samajwadi Party is understood to have agreed to this. Secondly, give Shravasti to the Congress in exchange for either Bulandshahr or Mathura – Akhilesh Yadav’s party has sought time to think about this.

Sonia Gandhi – who recently vacated her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat to move to Rajya Sabha – also helped the Congress leaders to come around to the Samajwadi Party’s ambition in Uttar Pradesh. She told party leaders that their demands were “unreasonable and unrealistic”, the sources said.

The Samajwadi Party and Congress are partners in the INDIA bloc. The success of the seat-sharing talks between the two are crucial, especially after the failure of such talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has decided to contest in her state alone. Its another ally AAP has also decided to go solo in Punjab. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said the Congress and his party had “mutually agreed” to contest Lok Sabha seats in Punjab separately.

“All is well that ends well. Yes, there will be an alliance. There is no conflict. Everything will be out and clear soon,” a smiling Akhilesh Yadav told reporters.

Akhilesh Yadav who earlier had accepted the invitation from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to join the Yatra saying that he would participate in the Yatra in Amethi or Rae Bareli, later said his participation was conditional to a decision on seat sharing.

The Samajwadi Party Chief could now join the yatra on February 24-25 when it hits Moradabad in Western UP.

The Congress will contest 17 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming general election, while the Samajwadi Party will be allotted the remaining 63, the INDIA bloc members said this evening.

This is the first major seat-share deal announced by the opposition alliance, which was formed in June to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Apart from its strongholds of Raebareli and Amethi (lost to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019), the Congress will field candidates from Kanpur Nagar, Fatehpur Sikri, Basgaon, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Amroha, Jhansi, Bulandshahar, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Sitapur, Barabanki, and Deoria.

In addition, it has also been given Varanasi, which is Mr Modi’s constituency.

The Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, will assign seats to regional parties from its share; at least one of these regional parties, though, is not expected to be in play with Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal believed to have re-aligned itself with the BJP despite agreeing a seven-seat deal with the SP last month.

READ | “Had Limited Time To Make Decision…”: RLD Leader On BJP Alliance Buzz

Samajwadi Party General Secretary Rajendra Chaudhary and his Congress counterpart, Avinash Pandey, addressed a press conference in Lucknow, at which the former threw down a warning for the BJP, which has dominated UP’s electoral landscape over the last 10 years, winning 71 seats in 2014 and 62 in 2019.

“The alliance is a message for the country. There are 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP… Akhileshji has repeatedly said BJP came to the centre from UP (and) because of UP it will lose power in 2024.”

“The situation in the country is very bad… farmers and youth are on the streets. INDIA alliance’s dream is to save the country from BJP,” Mr Chaudhary declared.

Mr Pandey told reporters the Congress had not yet decided on candidates for its seats, including the high-profile Amethi and Raebareli. “Gandhi family considers both as ‘home’ and will take a decision soon,” he said, amid speculation Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut from the latter constituency.

READ | After Sonia Gandhi’s Rajya Sabha Shift, Buzz Around Her Raebareli Seat

The Congress-Samajwadi deal comes a day after Akhilesh Yadav gave the national party sort of an ultimatum – ‘complete talks or I won’t participate in Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”.

READ | Akhilesh Yadav’s 15 UP Seats Offer To Congress, And A Yatra Condition

Talks between the two – seen as a barometer of INDIA’s ability to mount a sustained challenge to the BJP’s formidable poll-winning machinery – have been under scrutiny over the past few days, particularly after the Congress-AAP won the Chandigarh mayoral election to mark the bloc’s first electoral win.

However, till as recently as yesterday it looked like there could be no deal.

That was when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sonia Gandhi stepped in.

Sources have told NDTV the two reached out directly to Akhilesh Yadav to broker a deal, and then spoken to Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders from both sides to finalise arrangements.

READ | To Solve UP Seat-Sharing Deadlock, Sonia, Priyanka Gandhi Stepped In

Congress sources said Ms Gandhi was key, as she helped state leaders understand some of their demands were “unrealistic” given the party’s dismal overall performances in the 2014 and 2019 polls.

The news comes as a big boost for the grouping that has struggled for cohesion since it was formed in June last year, with disagreements over seat-sharing high on the list of problems to be overcome.

The bloc has already seen the exit of Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) boss Nitish Kumar.

And over in Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress said it plans to contest the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats on its own, after persistent criticism of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by the Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

READ | “No Tie-Up With Congress”: Mamata’s Bengal Twist Stuns INDIA Bloc

In Punjab, where the Congress was beaten by the AAP in the last election, the two have been unable to agree a seat-share deal. The hope, though, is that the mayoral election win will have a positive impact.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.