New Delhi (PTI), Sep 8: Hard bargaining continued on day between Congress and Samajwadi Party for seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections with both the parties giving signals that a consensus was eluding them on some constituencies. At the end of the second round of talks, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh indicated that 10 per cent of the seats could witness friendly contests. He said talks are on a positive note for 90 per cent of the seats.

SP General Secretary Amar Singh has been consistently opposing the idea of "friendly contests", maintaining it is against the spirit of alliance politics. Sources said the idea to avoid talks on a seat-by- seat basis was aimed at finding "common ground" for a lasting alliance.

The Congress side was led by Rahul Gandhi with party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh and state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi also present. Amar Singh and SP parliamentary party leader Ram Gopal Yadav represented the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party.

Joshi later said the talks were cordial and the next meeting would take place sometime next week. Amar Singh had a meeting with Mulayam later but both refused to say anything on the talks. SP is also seeking "few seats" in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh where the Congress is in a much better position.