'200 seats are our right': Congress poster seen in Lucknow as UP poll seat-sharing talks with SP intensify

Congress UP chief said the party had submitted a list of 175 to 200 seats, adding that the final decision would be taken by the senior leadership.

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Fresh friction appears to have emerged between INDIA bloc allies Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) after a poster demanding “200 seat haq hai hamara” (200 seats are our right) was reportedly spotted outside the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) headquarters in Lucknow on Sunday.

The poster features photographs of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and reads: “We have trust in Rahul Gandhi”, news agency ANI reported.

The Samajwadi Party, led by Akhilesh Yadav, has been the dominant partner in the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, having contested the lion’s share of seats during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and recent assembly polls.

With Congress reportedly setting a mid-November deadline to conclude seat-sharing talks, the public display in Lucknow underscores the delicate balancing act facing the INDIA bloc as it seeks to mount a united challenge against the ruling BJP in the country’s most politically crucial state.

Congress indicated on Saturday that it had submitted a list of 175 to 200 seats, adding that the final decision would be taken by the senior leadership and accepted by party workers.

UP Congress in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam said, “We have currently given a list of between 175 and 200 seats. But when the senior leadership meets soon and an amicable settlement, a respectful agreement, is reached, whatever the senior leadership decides will be accepted by all party workers and the entire Uttar Pradesh team."

SP leader reacts to poster

Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Singh said seat-sharing arrangements within an alliance could not be determined by posters, stressing that the final decision rested with the top leadership. He said the focus should be on a candidate’s winnability rather than the number of seats allocated to each party.

“In an alliance, seat allocations are not determined by posters. Whether it’s 200 seats or just two, that is a matter for the top leadership to decide; there is a committee that determines which candidates will contest from which seats and how the campaign will be conducted. Our leader has already made it clear that this is not just about the number of seats, but about who is capable of winning. Each party should contest the seats it has a genuine chance of winning," Singh told news agency PTI.

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