Congress-Samajwadi Party enter fresh feud over Amethi, Raebareli seats

Lucknow: Another irritant in pre-poll alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party has cropped up, this time on the candidates on the seats of Amethi and Raebareli for Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Claiming these 10 seats are situated in Congress' pocket barrow, the smaller alliance partner wants its candidates in Amethi and Raebareli. Incidentally, the ruling Samajwadi Party had declared its five candidates in these two districts before the alliance was formalised.

Now Congress wants SP to withdraw their candidates. In any case the SP has to withdraw a total of 39 candidates as under the seat adjustment agreement, the senior alliance partner has to contest 298 of 403 UP Assembly seats leaving 105 for Congress, but it has already announced 337 candidates.

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The SP has announced its five candidates out of the 10 constituencies of the two districts, but the Congress is in no mood to leave these seats as these fall in the parliamentary constituencies of party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Congress has understandably attached prestige, more than the winability factor, to the seats of Raebareli and Amethi.

SP has named Gayatri Prasad Prajapati (from Amethi), Rakesh Pratap Singh (from Gauriganj), Aasha Kishore (from Salon), Devendra Pratap Singh (from Sareni) and Dr Manoj Kumar Pandey (from Unchahar), while Congress has fielded Sushil Pasi from Bachhrawan.

None of the pre-poll alliance partners have named their candidates for Jagdishpur and Tiloi constituencies in Amethi district and Harchandpur and Raebareli seats in Raebareli district.

SP needs to take the final decision over the issue immediately so that Congress could decide future course of action in the matter.