LUCKNOW: The Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance, which went on to win 43 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in the recent general elections, doesn't appear to be showing signs of strengthening.
With Congress giving a snub to its India Bloc partner SP in Haryana before elections, but ending up on a losing side after the results, the grand old party finds itself on a sticky wicket vis-a-vis bypolls on nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where the SP is in a much stronger position.
Considering the 'latest reality check', the Congress camp, which initially wanted to contest on five seats, is now only "hoping for a positive response from the SP camp".
"We had identified 5 seats, all of which were won by the BJP and its alliance partners, RLD and the NISHAD Party, to contest as part of INDIA bloc," a senior Congress leader confirmed to TOI.
These are Ghaziabad, Khair, Phulpur (all three won by BJP), Meerapur (RLD) and Manjhwa (NISHAD).
While the demand for five seats was placed before SP before the Haryana results were out, the SP brass had not agreed to it back then, and has neither made the stand clear now.
Amid suspense, a senior SP leader told TOI that the Congress does not have any locus standi on these seats in UP.
The Congress camp, however, maintains that since the party fought Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the SP, and the results were "outstanding", the Congress also has the right to contest the bypolls in alliance with the SP.
According to the SP functionaries, Akhilesh was at the most willing to spare Ghaziabad and Khair for the Congress in UP.
The Meerapur seat, which was on Congress wish list, the SP on Thursday declared Sumbul Rana as its candidate, after a meeting with party workers from the constituency in Lucknow.
This, despite the fact that Akhilesh reportedly had a "seat sharing talk" with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of swearing in ceremony of Omar Abdullah as Jammu and Kashmir CM on Wednesday.
With Meerapur candidate final, SP sources said that there was no question of sparing any seat other than Ghaziabad and Khair for the Congress, as of now. The final decision on seat sharing, sources said, is likely to be taken by Oct 20.
Still hoping for a positive response in UP, Congress functionaries also make a mention of Maharashtra where elections are due on Nov 20, and seat-sharing talks with SP are underway.
SP, which already has two MLAs in Maharashtra, wants to contest on at least six seats in the western state.
"With or without Congress, the SP is ready to field its candidates on at least half-a-dozen seats in Maharashtra," said a senior insider, while insisting that it was also the SP chief's decision as of now.
UP was to see bypolls on 10 seats. Election Commission on Wednesday said the dates for elections on Ayodhya's Milkipur seat have not been announced due to a writ pending in the High Court. Consequently, only 9 seats will go to the polls on Nov 13.
With Congress giving a snub to its India Bloc partner SP in Haryana before elections, but ending up on a losing side after the results, the grand old party finds itself on a sticky wicket vis-a-vis bypolls on nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where the SP is in a much stronger position.
Considering the 'latest reality check', the Congress camp, which initially wanted to contest on five seats, is now only "hoping for a positive response from the SP camp".
"We had identified 5 seats, all of which were won by the BJP and its alliance partners, RLD and the NISHAD Party, to contest as part of INDIA bloc," a senior Congress leader confirmed to TOI.
These are Ghaziabad, Khair, Phulpur (all three won by BJP), Meerapur (RLD) and Manjhwa (NISHAD).
While the demand for five seats was placed before SP before the Haryana results were out, the SP brass had not agreed to it back then, and has neither made the stand clear now.
Amid suspense, a senior SP leader told TOI that the Congress does not have any locus standi on these seats in UP.
The Congress camp, however, maintains that since the party fought Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the SP, and the results were "outstanding", the Congress also has the right to contest the bypolls in alliance with the SP.
According to the SP functionaries, Akhilesh was at the most willing to spare Ghaziabad and Khair for the Congress in UP.
The Meerapur seat, which was on Congress wish list, the SP on Thursday declared Sumbul Rana as its candidate, after a meeting with party workers from the constituency in Lucknow.
This, despite the fact that Akhilesh reportedly had a "seat sharing talk" with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of swearing in ceremony of Omar Abdullah as Jammu and Kashmir CM on Wednesday.
With Meerapur candidate final, SP sources said that there was no question of sparing any seat other than Ghaziabad and Khair for the Congress, as of now. The final decision on seat sharing, sources said, is likely to be taken by Oct 20.
Still hoping for a positive response in UP, Congress functionaries also make a mention of Maharashtra where elections are due on Nov 20, and seat-sharing talks with SP are underway.
SP, which already has two MLAs in Maharashtra, wants to contest on at least six seats in the western state.
"With or without Congress, the SP is ready to field its candidates on at least half-a-dozen seats in Maharashtra," said a senior insider, while insisting that it was also the SP chief's decision as of now.
UP was to see bypolls on 10 seats. Election Commission on Wednesday said the dates for elections on Ayodhya's Milkipur seat have not been announced due to a writ pending in the High Court. Consequently, only 9 seats will go to the polls on Nov 13.
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