SP hold talks with Congress on 'seat sharing' in UP

{image-Samajwadi Party_01092008.jpg news.oneindia.in}New Delhi, Sep 1: The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are to hold seat sharing talks for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, Sep 1.

The Congress side, which is to be led by Rahul Gandhi, will consist of the party General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, and the State Congress president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi The Samajwadi Party side will be represented by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, General Secretary Amar Singh and Mulayam's brother Ram Gopal Yadav, also a General Secretary of the party. Digvijay Singh expressed confidence about reaching an agreement on seat sharing arrangement, and added that it would be pragmatic, realistic and honourable for both sides.

Recently, the Samajwadi Party's support had helped the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to win a trust vote in the Lok Sabha after Left allies withdrew support over the government's decision to go ahead with the next steps in the US-India civil nuclear cooperation deal.

Both parties have started preparations to jointly take on UP Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the coming general elections.

At present, the Samajwadi Party is the largest party in Uttar Pradesh in terms of the number of Lok Sabha seats it has - - 39 out of 80 seats. The Congress has just nine seats.

Rahul Gandhi met Amar Singh on Friday to take the discussions between the two parties forward. Besides, the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party favours tie-ups with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

ANI