Priyanka Gandhi Drives Congress Push For 125-150 Seats From SP Ahead Of UP Polls
New Delhi: With Uttar Pradesh elections fast approaching, the Congress has begun laying the groundwork for a seat-sharing deal with the Samajwadi Party, seeking a substantially larger share than it received in the last Assembly polls.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra chaired a nearly three-hour meeting with the party’s Uttar Pradesh leadership on Monday, where leaders examined close to 175 potential seats. The exercise is aimed at preparing a final demand list of roughly 125 to 150 seats to place before the Samajwadi Party.
A second round of consultations is expected later this week. Party insiders indicated that the Congress wants the alliance formula locked in by November, with Priyanka Gandhi likely to lead the bargaining process alongside Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, as reported by NDTV.
Congress Lists Priority Seats
The party has internally sorted its preferred constituencies into three groups: about 100 high-priority seats, 40-50 secondary seats and 25-35 additional seats. The selection draws on the Congress’s 2024 Lok Sabha performance and its 2017 Assembly results.
The party also wants a presence in every parliamentary constituency, contesting at least one Assembly seat in each. In the 2024 general election, fought in partnership with the Samajwadi Party, the Congress won six of 17 seats, led in 38 Assembly segments and finished runner-up in 42. Those 80 segments form the core of its current claim.
Seats associated with leaders including Ajay Rai, Ajay Lallu, Supriya Shrinate and Nadeem Javed have also been included. The Congress is additionally expected to press for Amethi, Rae Bareli and Saharanpur constituencies now represented by Samajwadi Party legislators, along with nearly a dozen seats the SP won in 2022.
Gandhi Bastions, Weak Base
Despite the party’s national prominence in Amethi and Rae Bareli, its Assembly record in the two Lok Sabha seats has been weak. The Congress did not win any of the five Assembly segments in either constituency in 2022.
In Amethi, the BJP took three segments, the Samajwadi Party one and a BJP-backed independent the remaining seat. In Rae Bareli, the SP won four segments and the BJP one, leaving the Congress without a seat.
SP May Cap Congress Share
The Samajwadi Party, while open to an alliance, is believed reluctant to concede more than 60-65 seats. Mr Yadav has repeatedly said “winnability” should determine allocation.
He has already begun shortlisting candidates and is preparing to field nominees in around 350 of the state’s 403 Assembly constituencies. Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam, however, has argued that his party should receive at least 150 seats.
The Congress has also reshaped its state organisation. Aradhana Misra, a three-term legislator seen as close to Akhilesh Yadav, has replaced Ajay Rai as state president, while MP Imran Masood has been appointed working president. The changes are being read as an effort to ease negotiations and reassure the state’s Muslim voters, who account for nearly 18 per cent of the population.
Elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly are due before May next year.
