Also figuring on the Congress list of candidates submitted on Monday were PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad, Union Minister Jitin Prasada from Dhaurara, and Jagdambika Pal from Domariaganj.

Amar Singh was learnt to have asked the Congress about its reported plans of an alliance with the RLD. The latter clarified that while they considered the RLD a secular party, Ajit Singh had to make it clear “whether he is with Mayawati or with us”.

SP leaders reportedly also sought to expand the pre-poll alliance with the Congress beyond UP to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Rahul Gandhi is said to have assured them that he would convey this to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress might have only nine seats from Uttar Pradesh in the present Lok Sabha, but it is eyeing “at least 25 to 30” out of the 80 seats. Its logic is simple: nine seats that were won last time, seven seats on which it came second, and three on which it came third but polled more than the SP. Apart from these 19, the Congress claims to have made inroads into many other seats, especially in the Bundelkhand region.

The argument put up by the Congress interlocutors on Monday was that delimitation of constituencies had changed caste equations drastically and the SP could, therefore, not start its count from the 2004 general election.

At Monday’s meeting, while the Congress proposed candidates on “about two-third of the seats”, the SP named its candidates on all 80 seats. Further talks will take place on September 8.