Lucknow: Swami Prasad Maurya has moved his Apni Janta Party into the INDIA bloc ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.
He said his party will contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2027 as part of the Opposition alliance and backed the Congress leader as the face he sees for the countrys top political post.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are still working out the terms of their alliance for the Uttar Pradesh election. Maurya will enter the INDIA bloc with his own party, which he said would continue to function independently. He has also ruled out any merger with the Congress.
The former SP leader, who was earlier associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), said his meeting with Rahul was the beginning of the process. He said talks on seat-sharing and the election strategy would take place later. His partys formal entry into the INDIA bloc was announced after the meeting with the Congress leader.
Maurya has said that the national political alternative should be built around Congress and Rahul. He also described Rahul as the leader who could provide that alternative. His stated aim is to work with parties that share his political position and take on the BJP in the 2027 election.
He has sought to draw a line between joining the INDIA bloc and merging his party with the Congress. His Apni Janta Party will continue to exist as a separate political organisation. The question of how many seats it will contest under the alliance will be discussed later.
The Congress is seeking a larger role in Uttar Pradesh. Reports have put its demand at more than 150 seats, while the SP has been preparing its own election strategy. Akhilesh Yadav has said that the alliance that defeated the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state will continue for the 2027 Assembly polls. The SP and the Congress won 37 and six seats respectively in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, taking the INDIA blocs total in the state to 43 of 80 seats.
Maurya has avoided giving his own assessment of the Congress seat demand. He said the issue should be settled by all parties sitting together once his party formally becomes part of the alliance.
He has also rejected the idea of deciding the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister before the election. Asked about Akhilesh being projected as the INDIA blocs chief ministerial face, he said that the final decision belonged to voters. He argued that the government and its leader should be decided after the election through the public mandate.
Maurya hits out at Akhilesh over Rajya Sabha pick
His entry into the INDIA bloc puts him back in the same room as the SP chief. He left the party to chart his own path, and his comments show that the friction between them has not faded.
Maurya has criticised Akhilesh over the SPs decision to nominate corporate executive Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani for the Rajya Sabha. Akhilesh has tarnished the idea of socialism. Sending an industrialist to the Rajya Sabha is a big blow to socialism. This has never been seen before. This is what Akhilesh Yadav has done,” he said.
The SP chief has defended the industialists nomination, arguing that socialism also requires industries, investment, jobs and prosperity. He has said that the SPs approach is based on creating opportunities and improving living standards.
Nathwanis nomination has also put it in the context of the SPs PDA formula, which stands for Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (backward classes, Dalits and minorities). The BJP and the BSP have criticised the nomination, while BSP supremo and former Chief Minister Mayawati has questioned the SPs decision to nominate a corporate executive to the Upper House.