Akhilesh Yadav’s ultimatum: ‘Will join Rahul Gandhi’s yatra only after…’

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday that his party will be joining Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Nyay Yatra once the seat sharing deal between the two parties is finalised.
While speaking to ANI, Akhilesh Yadav said that the talks betweek Samajwadi Party and Congress are advancing and the lists have been exchanged between the two parties regarding the seat-sharing deal.
“Right now talks are going on, lists have come from them, we have also given them the list. The moment, seat distribution is done, Samajwadi Party will join their Nyaya Yatra…” Akhilesh Yadav said.
Earlier, Yadav told India Today TV in an interview that Rahul Gandhi is adamant for certain candidates and seats, causing a delay in the process of the seat-sharing deal.
Further, negotiations between Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge continue to take place but the final conclusion is yet to be reached.
Kharge had earlier extended an invitiation to Akhilesh Yadav, asking the Samajwadi Party to join Rahul Gandhi’s yatra either in Amethi or in Raebareli. Yadav subsequently accepted the invitation.
The Samajwadi Party backed out from contesting the 2019 elections from Amethi and Raibareli seats, and is currently in a tussle with Congress over the seat-sharing deal.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party was willing to offer 11 seats to Congress out of the 80 total seats from Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha. Now, SP has increased this number to 15 seats, according to sources close to NDTV.
SP remains adamant on offering no more than 15 seats to the INC, saying that Congress cannot fight on any of the other 65 seats in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, the Congress has not agreed to this condition yet.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday, “I expect that he (Akhilesh Yadav) will join the Yatra tomorrow. Earlier, Apna Dal leader Pallavi Patel also joined the yatra.”
The Samajwadi Party and the Congress are partners in the INDIA bloc. The success of the seat sharing talks between the two are crucial, especially after the failure of such talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has decided to contest in her state alone.