Congress Wants 150 Seats In UP, Samajwadi Party Says Top Leaders Will Decide

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are preparing to begin formal discussions on seat-sharing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next week, with Congress sources saying that the party has identified 150 constituencies it intends to seek in negotiations. While both parties have repeatedly said that they intend to fight the election together, the division of the state's 403 Assembly seats has emerged as the principal point of friction.

The negotiations are expected to begin in October, sources have said. A final arrangement, however, will require the approval of the two parties' top leadership -- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is expected in February-March 2027, although the Election Commission has not yet announced the formal schedule. 

Both parties are preparing on the assumption that they could have to contest a large number of seats on their own. That parallel preparation has seen some public sparring between leaders of the two parties. 

Congress Puts 150 Seats On The Table

According to Congress sources, the party has divided Uttar Pradesh's 403 Assembly constituencies into three categories -- A, B and C -- as part of its preparations for seat-sharing. The purpose, Congress leaders say, is to ensure that the party has identified potential candidates and organisational strengths before negotiations begin, rather than finding itself without candidates if an alliance is finalised.

The party has placed 150 constituencies in its first category and is expected to seek those seats during the negotiations. Congress leaders have indicated that they do not want the final number to fall below 100.

The Congress has also been working to strengthen its organisation across Uttar Pradesh in all of the 403 seats in the assembly. The party is focusing particularly on Dalit and Brahmin voters while seeking to make inroads among extremely backward communities.

While the focus is there on Brahmin and Dalit voters, the party has been inducting Muslim leaders and has given a prominent role in this effort to Imran Pratapgarhi, chairman of the Congress minority department. Among the prominent Muslim Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh is Saharanpur MP Imran Masood.

What The Samajwadi Party Is Doing

Akhilesh Yadav recently launched the party's PDA -- Pichhda (Backward classes), Dalit, and Alpsankhyak (Minorities) -- Rath Yatra from Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Rahul Gandhi. The move came just as questions over seat-sharing between the two parties were becoming more prominent. 

Akhilesh Yadav has publicly maintained that the alliance with Congress remains intact.

How 2024 Changed Congress-SP equation

In the 2019 general election, the SP won five Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh while Congress won one. 

Five years later, in the 2024 elections, the picture changed dramatically and the SP won 37 of UP's 80 seats and the Congress won six. The two parties together won 43 seats, putting the INDIA bloc ahead of the BJP-led alliance in the state. 

Congress's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam told NDTV that the INDIA bloc will contest the Assembly election together under Akhilesh Yadav's leadership.

When Akhilesh Yadav began his Rath Yatra from Rae Bareli, some Congress leaders responded by saying that their party could launch its own campaign from Mainpuri and Etawah -- two areas strongly associated with the Samajwadi Party.

In response, SP leaders said that Congress could begin its campaign wherever it wished, but it would not get votes in Etawah and Mainpuri.

Congress MP Imran Masood has said that the Congress will continue its campaign under Rahul Gandhi's leadership and has rejected suggestions that the party can simply be pushed aside in Uttar Pradesh.

"Rahul Gandhi ke bina koi kuch nahi (nothing without Rahul Gandhi," he said. "Don't be under any illusion, you saw what happened in Bengal." 

Samajwadi Party leaders have responded by stressing that the final decision will be made by the top leadership. Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq said the party had raised issues ranging from the SIR of electoral rolls to alleged election irregularities "from the streets to the Assembly".

But he said Akhilesh Yadav would decide when the alliance was formed and how seats were divided, while Rahul Gandhi would take the decision on the Congress side.

"Whether it is the SIR issue, election irregularities or other issues, the Samajwadi Party has raised public issues from the streets to the Assembly. Our leader, Akhilesh Yadav, will decide when the alliance is formed and how the seats are shared. For their part, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will take the decision. Unnecessary statements should be avoided so that the BJP does not get an opportunity. The Samajwadi Party is fully prepared for the Uttar Pradesh elections. We want to contest the elections together under the alliance and work towards forming the government. Even though the Samajwadi Party can contest on its own under Akhilesh Yadav's leadership and win with a full majority, we want to contest the elections together under the alliance," he said. 

SP MP Ramashankar Rajbhar has also said that the final alliance arrangement will be decided by Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav but he described some of the statements coming from Congress leaders as attempts to create pressure.

"The alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Congress will be decided by Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, but the absurd statements being made by Congress leaders are only aimed at creating pressure. How much strength Congress has in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is well known," he said.