In Moradabad, located in Uttar Pradesh, the leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and former chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, declared that his party intends to vie for as many seats as possible in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April-May this year. Speculations abound that the SP and Congress are poised for a seat-sharing arrangement in the forthcoming polls, with an official list slated for imminent release.

In a media interaction held here, Akhilesh Yadav dropped subtle hints regarding his party’s ambition to secure the maximum number of seats in the Lower House elections. When pressed on the number of seats the SP wishes to contest in the LS polls, the SP chief articulated that their party aims to field candidates in all feasible constituencies.

Akhilesh Yadav skillfully sidestepped a direct response when queried about his absence from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on two occasions. Nevertheless, the Samajwadi Party Chief maintained that there is no discord with Congress, assuring that clarity on the matter will emerge soon. He iterated that all will be well that concludes well.

Insider information suggests that the Congress has acquiesced to relinquishing its claim to the Moradabad seat as part of the alliance with the SP. Furthermore, Congress’s national general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi, played a pivotal role in resolving the impasse during the SP-Congress seat-sharing negotiations.

The SP-Congress coalition has brought relief to leaders within the INDIA bloc. As fractures appeared in the INDIA bloc following Nitish Kumar’s departure, attention is now riveted on the future moves of the Congress and the SP. The spotlight will shift to how the Congress plans to engage with other constituents of the INDIA bloc. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal have already articulated that their respective parties have devised independent strategies for the LS polls.

Meanwhile, MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi contended that Akhilesh Yadav has been disappointed by his own alliance partners. He emphatically stated that the Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen is contemplating entering the electoral arena in Uttar Pradesh.