4 minute learnLucknowUp to date: July 16, 2026 05:03 PM (IST)
Parliament member Imran Masood’s accusation that his ally Samajwadi Social gathering (SP) is neglecting Muslims has raised considerations throughout the SP, with occasion leaders privately acknowledging that the remarks might gasoline a notion battle over the opposition’s core minority help base. Uttar Pradesh Meeting Elections 2027.
Masood’s assault marks the primary time for the reason that Indian bloc was fashioned in July 2023 {that a} senior Congress chief has publicly accused the SP of neglecting Muslims. The allegations assume significance as they aim the SP’s conventional core. Muslim Yadav Voting based mostly.
Whereas SP leaders publicly denied Masood’s remarks as “private views”, occasion leaders acknowledged that the allegations had been politically offensive as they got here from a outstanding Muslim face within the Congress and weren’t denied by the occasion management.
“It’s not simply the assertion that’s inflicting discomfort however the help of the Congress,” stated an SP chief. One other chief stated the occasion was cautious of entrenching the narrative that Muslims are being sidelined throughout the SP, particularly because the occasion seeks to take care of its conventional Muslim-Yadav help base whereas increasing its enchantment to Dalits and different backward communities.
One other SP chief maintained that Masood’s remarks won’t have an effect on the way forward for the Indo-sphere. “The alliance will likely be determined by the nationwide management of Congress and SP, not by particular person leaders. These are Imran Masood’s private views,” he stated.
In an interview with The Indian Specific, Masood cited a current encounter in Sultanpur to make his case. “All of them visited the sufferer’s Yadav household, however not a single one went to satisfy the Muslims. The SP can not tolerate Muslim leaders,” he stated.
previous tensions
Masood’s remarks come amid rising tensions between the Congress and the SP after the 2024 Sabah elections. Though the 2 events fought collectively within the polls and received a mixed 43 of the state’s 80 seats (37 within the Lok Sabha and 6 within the Lok Sabha), variations have since surfaced over points akin to organizational growth, native physique elections, by-poll technique and the push for the Congress to regain political house in Uttar Pradesh reasonably than remaining a junior alliance.
Leaders of each events have more and more indicated that any alliance for the 2027 parliamentary elections will have to be negotiated on new phrases.
“We’re not begging for an alliance (with the SP). If you need an alliance, it’s best to convene a coordination committee and finalize issues. Do not depart it until the final second,” Masood stated, crediting the Congress and Opposition chief Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodho Yatra for growing SP’s Lok Sabha seats from 5 in 2019 to 37 in 2024.
Rajendra Pal Gautam, the newly appointed AICC normal secretary in command of Uttar Pradesh, stated lately that “roughly half” of the state’s 403 seats needs to be given to the Congress.
What seems to have additional angered the SP is Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai’s public help for Mr Masood. “Congress is a nationwide occasion and we wish to strengthen it. Masood is a revered member and a tall minority chief. All Congress employees are supporting him,” Rai stated.
In current months, the Congress has projected itself as a pressure to be reckoned with in Uttar Pradesh, even because it leaves open the opportunity of an alliance with the SP. Nevertheless, the occasion has repeatedly emphasised that seat-sharing talks should be performed with “mutual respect.”
