Priyanka Gandhi spoke to Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday to reach a settlement on seat-sharing between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

Lok Sabha Polls: A phone call from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was crucial in breaking the deadlock over Lok Sabha seat-sharing talks between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh and resulted in stitching of a key alliance, sources close to the matter have said, adding that Gandhi conversation with Yadav also led to the Congress getting a “fair deal” in the alliance.

Citing sources, a PTI report said Priyanka spoke to Akhilesh on Wednesday to reach a settlement on seat-sharing between the INDIA bloc partners in Uttar Pradesh and proved key in giving the final form to an alliance between the parties which was announced later in the day.

How Priyanka Gandhi got Congress a ‘fair deal’

As per the sources, the alliance has been all but sealed and the only seat on which the SP has to take a call is Shrawasti which the Congress is asking for. The Congress is likely to fight between 16-18 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, they said.

According to the sources, the Congress had earlier been handed a “raw deal” with seats where the winnability was low and the party was asking for alternative constituencies. However, after a telephonic conversation between Priyanka Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, an agreement was reached and the Congress has now been given seats such as Sitapur and Barabanki.

The Congress is also likely to get Kanpur, Varanasi, Saharanpur, Amroha, Fatehpur Sikri and Jhansi among others, sources said, adding that the grand-old party is now  getting a “fair deal” in the alliance.

In the Moradabad division, the Congress was asking for two seats but has agreed on Amroha alone, the sources said, according to PTI.

SP-Congress alliance

Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday announced that an alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party has been formalized for Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the SP had said that Yadav would only join the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing proposal for the polls is accepted. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister did not
join the yatra in Raebareli on Tuesday.

However, after the announcement of the SP-Congress alliance, it’s now speculated that Yadav would join the yatra in Agra after the seat sharing deal is announced.

On Monday, the SP had said it offered 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh to the Congress.

The SP and the Congress are partners in the INDIA bloc, formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the upcoming general elections.

(With PTI inputs)