Congress-SP talk on seat-sharing deadlocked

New Delhi, Sep 8 (UNI) The second meeting of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for sharing seats in Uttar Pradesh in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections ended in a stalemate.

Both the sides led by AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh and SP leader Amar Singh could not reach any agreement.

''There has been a disagreement over several seats in seat-sharing talks,'' a senior Congress leader said here today, while pointing out that the third meeting would be held after September 15.

The Congress has reportedly demanded 25 seats in Uttar Pradesh which has 80 out of the 545 Lok Sabha seats. The Samajwadi Party was said to be not inclined to give more than 15 seats.

The Congress suggested a friendly contest in 10 per cent of the state's seats, but Mr Amar Singh has reportedly rejected the idea.

Meanwhile, AICC General Secretary Veerappa Moily told mediapersons that ''it is a process which will take time. I don't think we have reached that stage.'' Asked if the SP was demanding a lion's share, he said ''the SP will have its claim.'' Asked why they could not resolve the differences even after a second round of meeting, Mr Moily said : ''it was the beginning of the proces and not the end of the process.'' UNI SH RR CS2012