New Delhi, Sept. 1: The Congress today told the Samajwadi Party it would not accept a seat share based on current House strength, as the allies met to firm up an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2009 general election.

The Congress has just nine Lok Sabha seats from the state and the Samajwadis have 39. But Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi made it plain to Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav that the results of the 2004 Lok Sabha and 2007 Assembly polls could not be the sole criterion for working out the seat share.

Digvijay argued that almost every one of the state’s 80 constituencies had “changed, often unrecognisably” after delimitation.

The Samajwadis, however, said they would not accept “friendly fights” — an option the Congress is considering to thwart possible rebellion from those denied tickets.

A Samajwadi source said Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar feel the Congress should not ask for more than 15 or 17 seats. The Samajwadis claim that apart from the constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, the Congress has “lost ground” in the other seven it won from the state in 2004. The Congress has dismissed this.