Within the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh state meeting elections scheduled for February subsequent yr, the Samajwadi Occasion (SP), a key element of the opposition Indian bloc, and the Congress are stepping up efforts to determine seats that may be shared between the 2 events, though each allies acknowledge that seat-sharing talks might be troublesome.
Whereas the All India Congress Committee (AICC) management has requested the UP social gathering’s affairs secretary to determine seats for negotiation with senior allies, SP president Akhilesh Yadav has additionally began taking suggestions from social gathering leaders in all 75 constituencies on the seat-sharing problem.
SP sources mentioned Akhilesh has requested senior leaders, MPs and MLAs within the state to suggest one seat within the constituency that the social gathering can suggest to the Congress within the preliminary stage of consultations.
Sources mentioned that whereas Mr. Akhilesh is finalizing the record for 60-80 Meeting seats, he has additionally recognized attainable SP candidates for all 403 seats within the state, retaining in thoughts the contingency of the talks being overrun.
Parliamentary sources mentioned the social gathering will start negotiations demanding round 120 seats, however may finally accept round 80 seats as a part of preparations with the SP.
High UP Congress leaders informed The Indian Specific that they’d “persuade” the social gathering excessive command to not “type an alliance with the SP”. “That is what the BJP desires – for the Congress and the SP to come back collectively. Then they’ll assault us on appeasement coverage, SP’s report on legislation and order and different points,” the Congress chief mentioned, including that he would quickly meet Rahul Gandhi to influence him “to not be a part of arms with the SP”.
“We do not thoughts partnering with the SP after the polls, however collaborating within the polls is suicidal for us,” the Congress chief claimed.
Some leaders from each events agree that an early seat-sharing settlement would additional speed up collaboration by giving each events and candidates a head begin in getting ready to win seats.
However this course of is more likely to contain intense negotiations and friction over a wide range of thorny points, which may complicate and delay it.
voice of opposition
Whereas senior leaders within the SP and Congress are eager to forge a coalition forward of the 2027 elections, some second- and third-party leaders seem like unfriendly to the alliance, fearing it will result in fewer seats for main candidates.
A number of SP leaders declare that the Congress doesn’t have a “robust base” within the state. In response, some Congress leaders declare that it’s due to the grand outdated social gathering that the SP-Congress alliance was capable of win 43 out of 80 seats within the state meeting within the 2024 meeting polls. They argue that Rahul Gandhi’s 2024 name to “save the structure” resonated with numerous teams, particularly Dalits, which helped the alliance defeat the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
SP leaders cited the 2022 meeting polls contested by each events individually. At the moment, the Congress was capable of win solely 2 out of 403 seats with a vote share of solely 2.33%.
A strained bond
The connection between the SP and the Congress has at all times had ups and downs. In October 2023, the 2 events had a heated alternate when UP Congress president Ajay Rai known as Akhilesh a “chilkat” (small fry). The plan started after the Congress refused to award seats to the SP within the Madhya Pradesh elections, forcing the SP to declare candidates for 30 seats.
Within the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh has challenged the Congress and questioned its credibility. Nevertheless, after a number of days of pressure, he lastly reconciled with the Congress after a gathering with Rahul Gandhi. The SP later struck an settlement with the Congress allotting it 17 seats, which stunned many. A key issue behind their alliance was their understanding that in the event that they went their very own means, it may break up the Muslim vote within the state.
a number of traces
Though seat-sharing talks haven’t but begun, some Congress leaders have already made statements of disagreement, which has upset Mr. Akhilesh.
Final month, two Dalit social gathering leaders, AICC scheduled caste unit president Rajendra Pal Gautam and Congress chief Tanuj Punia, turned up unannounced at BSP chief Mayawati’s home in Lucknow. Nevertheless, they have been unable to satisfy her as they didn’t have an appointment.
Congress sources say their stance was geared toward sending a sign that the social gathering could have alliance choices apart from the SP. Congress issued show-cause notices to each the leaders, however Akhilesh was not amused. He’s understood to have informed social gathering leaders that he would focus on with Rahul Gandhi the necessity to curb such developments that would injury the prospects of the alliance.
In June 2025, Congress MP Imran Masood triggered a stir when he claimed that the “80-17 system” wouldn’t work within the 2027 parliamentary polls. Masood was referring to seat-sharing preparations for the 2024 Sabah state elections. The SP hit again and Dharmendra Yadav, a celebration lawmaker and Mr Akhilesh’s cousin, mentioned in an interview with The Indian Specific that Mr Masood had no authority to answer the decision on seat-sharing.
“Profitable” seat
The Congress has claimed that for the reason that 2024 elections, though the SP has given a major variety of seats, the “high quality” of some seats was not as per the social gathering’s needs, citing seats the place anti-BJP events might be “favorable to social arithmetic”.
The controversy resurfaced within the subsequent by-polls for 12 parliamentary seats, with the parliament deciding to not enter the fray, deeming the few seats supplied by the SP to be “unwinnable”. The seats that the SP had indicated it will give to the Congress included the cities of Ghaziabad and Khair, that are believed to be the strongholds of the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
Congress sources say the social gathering will put stress on the SP to surrender seats the place the social equation favors the social gathering’s possibilities within the 2027 polls as nicely. This can be a troublesome problem due to overlapping assist bases, together with Muslim communities.
