Congress To Seek up to 200 UP Seats From SP

 New Delhi: The Congress plans to seek 150 to 200 seats from the Samajwadi Party in an alliance for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, while preparing to contest all 403 constituencies if seat-sharing talks fail, party sources said. Formal negotiations are expected to begin next month.

The party has no objection to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav being projected as the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate, but wants what sources described as an “equal share” in seat allocation.

“We have no problem with an alliance, but there has to be some compromise from both sides. We will make adjustments and expect others to do the same. If an agreement cannot be reached, we are prepared to contest all 403 seats and have been working on the ground,” a senior party source said.

The Congress will also seek a substantial share of the 11 Assembly seats falling within the Raebareli and Amethi Lok Sabha constituencies, which are important to the party, the source added.

For now, the Congress is focused on strengthening its organisation and cadre in Uttar Pradesh through its Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan. It has analysed electoral data from the past 20 years to identify seats it believes it can claim. Party sources said the exercise would inform its talks with the SP.

The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee could also see a reshuffle, including a possible change of state president Ajay Rai. Sources described any such move as a “routine” organisational exercise and sought to play down suggestions that it was linked to internal differences.

Congress MP Imran Masood is likely to be advised by the central leadership to exercise greater caution in his public statements, a party source said.

Sources said the SP was free to hold talks with other prospective allies, while the Congress would decide independently which parties it was willing to work with.

On the Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress sources said they did not regard Mayawati’s party as a “B team” of any political formation, leaving open the possibility of talks if the BSP approached it. Asked whether Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand could join the Congress, they said the party’s doors were open to “like-minded” people.

The Congress appeared less receptive to an alliance with Azad Samaj Party chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad. A source said he had “deviated from the core issue”.

Party sources ruled out an alliance with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, alleging that his politics helped the BJP. Owaisi has publicly expressed willingness to join hands with like-minded parties for the Uttar Pradesh elections.

The seat-sharing talks could test the Congress-SP alliance, under which both parties made gains in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.