Samajwadi Party To Contest 65 UP Lok Sabha Seats, INDIA 15: Sources

Ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's party will, crucially, not field candidates in Congress strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli.

The Samajwadi Party will contest 65 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats in next year's general election, party sources told NDTV Thursday, adding that a list of potential candidates is nearly finalised.

The remaining 15 will be divided between the Congress and other INDIA members, sources added.

Ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's party will, crucially, not field candidates in Raebareli - held by Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi - and Amethi - which was held by the Congress from 1999 to 2014, before the BJP's Smriti Irani shocked Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 poll to win in the party bastion.