The proposed Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh was brought into further question on Saturday. “An alliance breaks when a party asks for seats that are beyond its capability,” SP legislator Abu Azmi told ANI. “To give a party with 28 MLAs 90-95 seats is not a small offer, but they still want more,” he said, adding that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will make the final decision.

His statement comes amid reports that the tie-up has hit a roadblock after the Samajwadi Party on Friday declared candidates for seven Assembly seats that the Congress currently holds. The SP’s national vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda had said that his party was ready to give the Congress a maximum of 85 seats to contest, less than the 103 seats it was aiming for.

After seat-sharing talks between the two parties failed, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar called on the chief minister on Friday. “Alliance should be done taking pride of workers into care.” Babbar has said. Moreover, Nanda on Thursday ruled out the possibility of a Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal tie-up, saying they will “forge an alliance only with the Congress”.

On January 17, Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had announced that his party would fight the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections in alliance with the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav. The details about the alliance would be announced in the coming days, he had said.

Uttar Pradesh holds 403 Assembly seats, which is more than any other Indian state. Polls will be held in seven phases, beginning on February 11.