Before the 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the political tussle over seat sharing in the INDIA alliance has intensified. Talks are going on regarding alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress, but different strategies are emerging regarding the seats of both the parties.
Earlier there was talk of Congress contesting elections on 175 to 200 seats, but now the party is said to be ready to contest elections on around 125 to 130 seats. The Congress leadership has handed over the list of these assembly seats to SP President Akhilesh Yadav.
On the other hand, Akhilesh Yadav is not in favor of giving more than 50 seats to Congress. SP is said to be preparing to give 40 to 50 seats. In such a situation, it does not seem easy to reach a consensus on seats between the two parties.
According to sources associated with the INDIA alliance, the list of seats prepared by Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been handed over to SP President Akhilesh Yadav. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present in the recent Congress meeting with leaders of Uttar Pradesh in Delhi.
In this meeting, feedback was taken from the leaders of the state regarding the political situation of various assembly constituencies, strength of the organization and possible candidates. On the basis of this feedback, Congress has prepared the list of seats it is claiming.
Eye on Rae Bareli, Amethi and Saharanpur seats
Congress is also eyeing those assembly constituencies where the party has an old political base. Apart from Rae Bareli and Amethi, some seats of Saharanpur are also said to be the priority of Congress. These also include such seats where currently there are Samajwadi Party MLAs. Congress is also making its assembly constituency-wise performance the basis of its claim in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In the Lok Sabha elections, Congress was ahead in 38 assembly constituencies, while it was second in 42 seats. The party is considering these 80 assembly constituencies as important for its possible claim. Apart from this, the party is also keeping an eye on the seats associated with prominent leaders of the state Congress. These are said to include seats belonging to Ajay Rai, Ajay Lallu, Supriya Shrinet and Nadeem Javed. However, the official list of names of all 125 to 130 assembly constituencies has not been made public by the Congress.
Also read: 'UCC will be implemented if government is formed for the third time', Amit Shah's big bet in UP
SP is not ready to give more than 40 to 50 seats
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party is not in favor of giving such a large number of seats to Congress. According to sources, the SP leadership wants to give a chance to Congress on around 40 to 50 seats. The main reason behind this is the weak performance of Congress in the last assembly elections and low vote percentage.
SP believes that the distribution of seats in the alliance should be based on the probability of winning and the strength of the grassroots organization. In the last assembly elections, SP had fielded candidates on 347 out of 403 seats in the state using its election symbol bicycle. The remaining seats were given to allies. This time also SP wants to contest elections on about 340 to 350 seats with its symbol. The party leadership believes that by fielding candidates on its election symbol, there is better control over the chances of victory and the election strategy.
Along with seats, names of potential candidates were also asked for.
The SP leadership has also sought from Congress the names of possible candidates for those assembly seats on which the party wants to contest elections. Its purpose is to see how many strong candidates Congress has in the seats it is demanding and what are the chances of their victory. With this, talks on seat sharing can be taken forward. SP has indicated that official candidates will not be announced before the final consensus on the seats is reached.
Also read: Before UP assembly elections, elections on 10 more MLC seats, what will SP and BJP do?
The first big test of the alliance before 2027
The coordination between SP and Congress is considered very important to challenge BJP in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, both the parties had contested the elections together and performed better. Now efforts are being made to carry forward this coordination in the assembly elections also. However, the equations of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are different. Congress wants more seats to strengthen its organization in the state, while Akhilesh Yadav wants to maintain control over the seats in view of SP's strong electoral base.
In such a situation, there is a big difference between Congress's claim of 125 to 130 seats and SP's offer of 40 to 50 seats. Now it remains to be seen how much Congress reduces its demand and how many seats Akhilesh Yadav is ready to give up to keep the alliance strong. This distribution of seats will decide with what strategy the INDIA alliance will field in the 2027 assembly elections.