Lucknow, 19 Feb

The Samajwadi Party will not participate in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra till seat-sharing with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh is finalised, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday.

The Gandhi-led yatra will pass through Amethi on Monday. It will then enter Raebareli, where the Samajwadi Party chief had earlier said he would join. A Congress statement on Sunday said party chief Mallikarjun Kharge would join the yatra -- currently in Pratapgarh -- in Amethi.

The Samajwadi Party had offered 11 seats to the grand old party while the Congress' state unit demanded a higher allocation. Ajay Rai, the Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit chief, had earlier said the party should get around two dozen seats it had won in the 2009 general elections. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress are partners in the opposition INDIA bloc.

Samajwadi Party sources said the party has scaled up its offer and proposed for the Congress to contest from 15 seats. It has asked for the Congress to agree to the latest offer before Yadav joins the yatra in Raebareli on Tuesday.

The Congress secured victory only from the Raebareli seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh. At 80, the state sends the highest number of MPs to Parliament.