UP elections 2017: Congress-SP alliance back on; Akhilesh concedes 105 seats
Splitting the difference between their earlier positions, Congress got six more seats than the 99 it was offered before by the Samajwadi Party.
The
alliance
between
the
Samajwadi
Party
and
the
Congress
for
the
Uttar
Pradesh
assembly
elections
2017
has
finally
been
sealed.
As
per
the
agreement,
the
Congress
would
fight
on
105
seats.
The
talks
had
run
into
troubled
waters
on
Saturday
and
both
sides
had
almost
called
the
alliance
off.
However,
after
the
intervention
of
Congress
president
Sonia
Gandhi
both
sides
came
to
an
agreement.
On
Saturday
both
sides
remained
adamant
about
the
seat
sharing
agreement.
The
SP
was
ready
to
offer
only
99
seats
to
the
Congress.
The
Congress
on
the
other
hand
was
demanding
120
seats.
The
SP
was
in
a
hurry
to
close
the
issue
as
the
nomination
process
had
already
begun
and
the
top
brass
did
not
want
to
waste
any
time.
Akhilesh
also
held
back
channel
talks
with
the
Congress.
The
SP's
Naresh
Agarwal
on
Saturday
said
that
the
alliance
would
not
go
through
as
his
party
needed
to
contest
at
least
on
300
seats.
Ghulam
Nabi
Azad
of
the
Congress,
however,
sounded
more
optimistic
and
said
that
a
clear
picture
would
emerge
soon.\
Oneindia News