After the defeat of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance in the Bihar assembly elections, a rift is emerging between its two important allies in Uttar Pradesh too. Tension seems to be increasing between Samajwadi Party and Congress. Both the parties are preparing to contest the upcoming Panchayat and Legislative Council (MLC) elections separately. This tension has been raising questions over the future of their alliance ahead of the 2027 UP assembly elections. Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held in early 2026, while elections for 11 MLC seats will be held in November 2026.
UP Congress President Ajay Rai has confirmed that his party is preparing to contest both the Panchayat and MLC elections alone. The focus of Congress right now is to strengthen the party cadre on 403 assembly seats. Although panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols, the Congress has decided to release the central list of its supported candidates from the state headquarters in Lucknow, so as to make its presence felt in the rural elections.
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Ajay Rai, President, UP Congress:-
Congress party will contest UP Panchayat elections alone and on the basis of this Panchayat election result, Congress party workers will be provided tickets in the upcoming 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
‘Friends are enemies in MLC and Panchayat elections’, understand the reason
Legislative Council elections are going to be held on 11 seats in November 2026. Both the parties are now going to contest against each other along with Bharatiya Janata Party. Samajwadi Party has already announced several candidates. Congress has also decided the names of its candidates. These elections are important for SP, because if it wants the post of Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council with 100 Assembly Council members, then it is necessary to win at least 3 seats.
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Where are the elections going to be held?
- Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad, Jhansi (Graduate Seat)
- Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad, Gorakhpur-Faizabad (Teacher Seat)
Why are relations between Congress and Samajwadi Party deteriorating?
The friendship between Congress and Samajwadi Party in UP had done wonders in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. India Alliance had got 43 seats out of 80. The relations between the two parties are now deteriorating. Akhilesh Yadav did not campaign for Congress in Bihar elections, while he campaigned extensively for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Leaders from both sides are accusing each other of showing ‘arrogance’.
What is the complaint of Samajwadi Party?
In Maharashtra too, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi has announced to fight all the elections alone, accusing Congress of showing ‘arrogance’ in the alliance.
What is Congress’s complaint?
Congress leaders allege that the Samajwadi Party is ‘arrogant’ and does not try to take the alliance along. Speaking to The Indian Express, Samajwadi Party leader Udayveer Singh had recently said that their alliance policy is clear, they support the strongest ally to fight against the BJP. He says that Samajwadi Party is the strongest in UP and expects other allies to support it.
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What is Congress doing?
Congress is running ‘Srijan Abhiyan’ in UP. Congress believes that performing well in the Panchayat and Legislative Council elections strengthens their position in seat sharing with SP in the 2027 assembly elections. Ticket distribution in assembly elections will not be easier than in Lok Sabha elections. Samajwadi Party is the second strongest party in UP. Congress is marginalised.
Congress leaders believe that preparing the seat-sharing formula for 2027 is going to be very difficult. Both the parties are currently claiming to be united for the 2027 UP elections but the current disunity before the elections is indicating something else.
What is the reason for running away from Congress?
In the Bihar Assembly elections, Congress had fielded its candidates on 60 seats in Bihar. Congress has secured only 6 seats out of 243 assembly seats in Bihar. 25 to RJD. The performance of Congress has been very poor. The absence of any big face in the local leadership of Congress in Bihar is also one of the reasons for this. There are many vocal faces of Congress in UP too but there is no such face which has public popularity.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are in the centre. The party also does not have strong cadre. Samajwadi Party leaders feel that giving more seats to Congress means a bigger defeat. At present, the efforts to bring both the parties together in the upcoming elections have not even started. Big faces of both the parties have talked about an alliance for 2027 but are claiming to contest separately in the elections before that.
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