The road to the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections could be rocky for Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress due to differences on seat sharing which could test their political alliance.
Both parties are set to ally against the BJP but the number of constituencies that each side will contest remains their main issue of contention.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is reported to want to retain the majority of seats for his party while the Congress is seeking a bigger role in the forthcoming electoral battle.
Samajwadi Party is said to offer Congress between 60 and 70 seats, which will be considerably short of the Congress’s reported demand.
Congress Wants Bigger Role in UP Elections
The Congress is reported to want more than 200 of Uttar Pradesh’s 403 Assembly seats based on its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The party won six Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 general elections while contesting in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Congress leaders are also studying Assembly segments where the party performed relatively well in order to further bolster its position in the state ahead of the next election.
However, the Samajwadi Party appears set to resist this and remain the dominant party in the alliance. The reported gap between the two parties’ expectations will likely prove challenging as they work out a mutually acceptable formula.
There has been no official confirmation that the Samajwadi Party has formally communicated the reported 60-70 seat proposal to the Congress.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Takes Centre Stage in Talks
The Congress is reported to want to finalise seat-sharing negotiations by November 15, allowing prospective candidates enough time to prepare for the Assembly elections.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra plays a key role in the party’s efforts to finalise the arrangement and remains in regular contact with the organisation’s Uttar Pradesh leaders.
The timing of the agreement could be crucial for both allies as an early settlement would allow them to concentrate on candidate selection, constituency-level campaigning and strengthening their organisational networks.
Akhilesh Yadav Emphasises Unity Against BJP
Amid speculation over the seat-sharing dispute, Akhilesh Yadav has stressed that the alliance’s overriding objective remains defeating the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
The former chief minister said the Congress, Samajwadi Party and INDIA bloc needed to be bolstered in order to achieve their shared political goal. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Yadav expressed confidence that the alliance would move forward effectively against the ruling party.
His statement comes at a crucial point as both parties must balance their individual electoral ambitions with the need to maintain opposition unity.
The BJP has ruled in Uttar Pradesh since 2017, making the 2027 Assembly elections an important contest for both the ruling alliance and its opponents.
UP Polls 2027: Can SP and Congress Find Common Ground?
The forthcoming Uttar Pradesh elections are expected to be a major political contest between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance. The NDA’s smaller partners such as Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Apna Dal (Sonelal), Nishad Party, and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) could also prove important factors in the electoral calculus.
For the Congress, securing a larger number of constituencies will be important in expanding its political presence in the state while for the Samajwadi Party retaining a larger share will be crucial in maintaining its position as the alliance’s main force in Uttar Pradesh.