JOIN USCongress general secretary and the party in charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh said most of the issues have been resolved, which, some sources indicate, includes giving a cabinet position to Ajit Singh. The parties are closer to a deal after several rounds of talks.
Congress’s in charge of screening committee in the state Mohan Prakash also confirmed that the parties have almost worked out an agreement for seat sharing and the alliance will be announced as early as this week. However, Jayant Chaudhary, son of the RLD chief, told Deccan Herald that no deal has been reached. He said that the talks are continuing.
Sources said the RLD, with its mass base amongst the Jat community in the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh, demanded 70 Assembly seats but is likely to settle for 50. With Mohan Prakash described “cordial” in the last round of talks on Wednesday, negotiations had focused on five to six seats for which the Congress had already decided its candidates. The RLD is asking those candidates to be withdrawn.
So far, the Congress had declared candidates for 135 seats in the first two lists. The third list is expected to be released in the first week of November, after the party’s election committee meeting.