According to a senior Congress leader the SP has accepted Congress' claim on its 10 sitting, seven where it stood second in the last elections and another six where party has improved its position and hopes to win them with the support of SP.

In lieu of 22 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Congress has agreed to accommodate SP in states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where SP has claimed that it could strengthen its support base with the help from the Congress.
The leaders of the two parties would hold their final round of meeting on Monday and finalize the seat sharing agreement, which would be announced shortly following a meeting between the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The Congress has asked the SP to identify seats in three other states from where it is willing to put up its candidates. The SP general secretary Amar Singh, who is leading the negotiation on behalf of his party, is expected to report back to the coordination committee that has been set up for smooth functioning of affairs between the two allies, about the number of seats the SP wants to fight in states other than UP.

Monday's meeting would also decided whether or not two partners would launch a joint election campaign in UP and other states. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have played a vital role in finalizing the deal, which saw many ups and downs during the course of discussion. (EON).