Congress-SP tie-up strengthens after securing seat-sharing deal

INDIA bloc partners Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh, the SP left 17 out of the 80 seats in the State for the Congress. The Congress will contest Raebareli and Amethi, once considered pocket boroughs of the party, and Varanasi which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency. The SP will contest on Khajuraho seat in Madhya Pradesh, which has 29 Lok Sabha seats, and support the Congress on the rest of the seats. While Congress general secretary played a significant role in resolving the standoff between the two INDIA parties by speaking with SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav over the phone to clinch the deal. Meanwhile the speculation is rife that SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav will not fight the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and he will focus more on campaign and strategy for the elections. The buzz is that SP will field Dharmendra Yadav from Kannauj and Ramakant Yadav from Azamgarh. Dharmendra Yadav have been made the in-charge of Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat as well as the Kannauj parliamentary constituency.