Congress wants 3 seats, upset with Samajwadi's offer of 2 for UP bypolls: Sources

UP bypolls: The Samajwadi Party has offered the Ghaziabad and Khair (Aligarh) seats to the Congress, while it has announced its candidate for the Phulpur seat, which the Congress is still staking its claim on.

The Congress is not happy with the Samajwadi Party's offer of giving two seats to the grand old party for the upcoming bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and has sought a third seat to contest, sources told India Today TV.

The Samajwadi Party has offered the Ghaziabad and Khair (Aligarh) seats to the Congress, while it has announced its candidate for the Phulpur seat, which the Congress is still staking its claim on.

According to sources, seat-sharing for the UP bypolls was discussed in the informal talks between Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the swearing-in ceremony of Omar Abdullah as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister in Srinagar on Wednesday.

Congress's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pandey, state party chief Ajay Rai and party leader Aradhana Mishra are in touch with Samajwadi Party leaders, but the Akhilesh Yadav-led party is unlikely to give more than two seats, sources said.

The development comes even as Congress faces pressure from its allies to redraw its strategy in future elections after the party's debacle in Haryana and its failure to make inroads in the Jammu region.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav has started campaigning for his party's candidates in poll-bound Maharashtra without finalising the seat-sharing deal.

There is a strong buzz that the Gandhi family had discussed with Akhilesh Yadav about the Phulpur seat. Mustafa Siddiqui, who lost the last election, has been fielded by the Samajwadi Party from this constituency.

On Thursday, the Samajwadi Party announced Sumbul Rana as its candidate from Meerapur seat.

According to Congress sources, the party's top leadership could soon have final talks with Akhilesh Yadav on seat-sharing for the Uttar Pradesh bypolls.

Bypolls are set to be held for 9 Assembly seats on November 13 - Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur city), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Kundarki (Moradabad).

All nine seats fell vacant after its MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, while bypolls are being held in the Sisamau seat due to the disqualification of Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.

Counting of votes will take place on November 20. The Election Commission has not announced bypolls for the Milkipur seat yet due to an election petition pending in court.

The Samajwadi Party contested in alliance with the Congress under the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha polls and scripted a stunning performance, winning 43 of 80 parliamentary constituencies. The Akhilesh Yadav-led party emerged as the single largest party with 37 seats, while the Congress got six.

(with inputs from PTI)