Uttar Pradesh which has as many as 80 Lok Sabha seats holds the key for whichever party that comes to power at the centre .
Hence to halt the BJP in the state , the Congress has according to media reports given up as many 7 seats to the mahagathbandhan – SP- BSP- RLD.
“The Congress is leaving seven Lok Sabha seats in the state for the SP, BSP and RLD alliance. These include Mainpuri, Kannauj and Firozabad. Apart from this, the party will not field any candidate on seats from where BSP chief Mayawati, RLD chief Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary are likely to contest or may contest,”UP Congress chief Raj Babbar .
“The alliance has left the seats of Rae Bareli (held by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi) and Amethi(held by Congress president Rahul Gandhi). In a reciprocating gesture, we are leaving seven Lok Sabha seats for them,” Babbar said.
The Samajwadi Party had released its first list of nine candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, fielding party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav from its stronghold Mainpuri.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav would contest from Kannauj, where she is the sitting MP.
The party has decided to field MPs Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav from the current seats of Badaun and Firozabad, respectively