Lucknow: As Uttar Pradesh heads toward Assembly elections scheduled for February 2027, seat-sharing talks within the INDIA alliance have triggered fresh friction between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), led by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
According to reports, the Congress has been pressing for a larger share—around 100 to 150 constituencies—while the SP has conveyed that it can allocate fewer than 60 seats. The disagreement comes as the BJP, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, accelerates its campaign for a third consecutive term in the 403-seat Assembly.
The Congress, which won only two seats in the 2022 UP Assembly election, has reportedly prepared a list of 175 constituencies where it wants to contest, and has indicated it aims to fight in at least 115–120 seats. The party has also classified its preferred seats into four categories, with 80 constituencies placed in its top-priority ‘A’ list.
To streamline negotiations, the Congress has assigned the seat-sharing responsibility to Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi, who is expected to hold talks with Akhilesh Yadav soon. UP Congress in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam said the party has already submitted a list of 175–200 seats to the SP and that discussions will be held to finalise the arrangement.
A senior SP leader, however, stressed that seat allocation must reflect “ground realities” and winnability, pointing to Congress’ limited recent performance in the state. Akhilesh Yadav reiterated that the alliance’s common objective is to remove the BJP from power in Uttar Pradesh and said the partners would do what is necessary to achieve that goal.
