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Congress Admits Delay in SP Talks, Sets Mid-November Target for UP Seat Deal. (Img: X)
New Delhi: Congress and the Samajwadi Party are preparing to begin seat-sharing talks next week ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with discussions expected to focus on winnability and a mutually acceptable seat formula.
While Congress has publicly pushed for a larger share, party insiders suggest it could consider around 80–90 seats if it gets constituencies where it has a realistic chance of winning.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are moving towards negotiations over seat-sharing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, as opposition parties look to build a united challenge to the ruling BJP. Congress has acknowledged delays in the process and now hopes to complete the discussions by mid-November.
Rajendra Pal Gautam, the Congress in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, said preparations were underway and a committee of senior leaders would be formed to negotiate the alliance. The committee is expected to be announced soon, with the objective of strengthening the opposition front while securing what Congress considers a respectable deal.
The talks could prove crucial for the INDIA bloc’s strategy in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP and its allies will face a direct electoral challenge from opposition parties seeking to convert their Lok Sabha performance into Assembly gains.
Congress has previously indicated that it wants to contest around 150 of Uttar Pradesh’s 403 Assembly seats. That position has contrasted with voices within the Samajwadi Party that have argued Congress should receive a much smaller share.
However, Congress insiders now suggest the party could consider contesting around 80 to 90 seats, provided it is allocated constituencies where it has a genuine chance of winning. The party is reportedly wary of being offered seats that the SP considers difficult or wants to relinquish.
The final number is yet to be decided. Senior leadership from both parties will need to balance electoral calculations, local political strength and the interests of their respective organisations before reaching an agreement.
Gautam has maintained that Congress is committed to an alliance against the BJP but should not be underestimated. He argued that Rahul Gandhi’s growing popularity gives the party a stronger position in negotiations.
According to Congress sources, the proposed negotiating panel is expected to include senior state leaders, including newly appointed state unit chief Aradhana Mishra, working president Imran Masood and Rajendra Pal Gautam. The team is expected to hold initial discussions with SP leaders to identify constituencies that could be allocated to each party.
The panel’s task will be to assess the strength of both parties across constituencies and work towards a formula that avoids unnecessary competition between alliance partners. The outcome could shape candidate selection, local campaign planning and the broader opposition strategy in the run-up to the election.
Congress’s electoral record in Uttar Pradesh explains why seat selection could matter more than the headline number. The party won 28 Assembly seats in 2012, but its tally fell to just seven in 2017, when it contested 105 seats. In the 2022 Assembly election, Congress won only two seats.
These results underline the challenge facing the party as it negotiates with the SP. A larger number of seats would offer Congress more opportunities to rebuild its organisation, but contesting constituencies where it lacks sufficient support could weaken the alliance’s overall prospects.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election, however, offered the opposition a more encouraging result. Congress won six of the 17 seats it contested in Uttar Pradesh, while the SP secured 37 of the 63 seats it fought. Their performance reinforced the electoral importance of coordination between the two parties.
The seat-sharing agreement will be an early test of how effectively Congress and the SP can manage competing ambitions while maintaining a common front against the BJP. The negotiations will also indicate whether the parties can translate their Lok Sabha coordination into a workable Assembly-level arrangement.
For voters, the final formula could influence which party fields candidates in their constituencies and how opposition votes are consolidated. For the BJP, the nature of the alliance could shape its campaign strategy across the state.
The next major development is expected to be the formal announcement of the Congress negotiating committee and the beginning of discussions with SP leaders. Congress hopes to conclude the process by mid-November, but the final seat tally and the constituencies allocated to each party remain undecided.
