All not well in Congress-SP alliance? Seat-sharing emerges as key hurdle
The Samajwadi Party and the Congress have already announced that they will contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections together as allies. Akhilesh Yadav has said on several occasions that the Samajwadi Party will contest the election in alliance with the Congress. The Congress's top leadership also believes that there is no alternative to going into the election together.
Mayawati has already ruled out an alliance with either the Congress or the Samajwadi Party, while Asaduddin Owaisi has been repeatedly appealing to Akhilesh Yadav for an alliance. Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan of the Azad Samaj Party is also open to an alliance, but has so far refused to reveal whether his party will join one.
The key question, however, is whether everything is smooth between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Will the two parties be able to arrive at a seat-sharing arrangement easily, or is there a sticking point that is keeping the alliance in limbo?
A section of the Congress is keen on an alliance with either Mayawati or Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan. It is believed that Rahul Gandhi has already decided to go ahead with an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav, which means there is currently no room for other parties.
The Congress claims that even if it goes into an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav, it will do so on its own terms. This time, the party says, Akhilesh Yadav will not decide the Congress's seats; the Congress itself will decide which seats it wants to contest.
The Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, is clear about its preparations. It is ready to contest all 403 Assembly seats if the alliance runs into a problem.
There is a sense of urgency within the Congress. The party wants an alliance, but wants it finalised as soon as possible so that it knows how many candidates it will field and which seats it will contest. The Samajwadi Party, on the other hand, is in no hurry to finalise seat-sharing.
The Samajwadi Party wants to discuss seat-sharing only after completing its preparations, while the Congress believes that any delay in finalising the seats would weaken its bargaining power. The party fears that if the seat-sharing process is delayed, it may eventually have to enter the alliance on Akhilesh Yadav's terms.
Congress leader and the party's prominent Muslim face Imran Masood wants the number of seats and the names of the constituencies to be finalised by October at any cost. Masood has said that any delay in the alliance would cause the Congress to lose its advantage.
Both parties are claiming to be preparing to contest all the seats in Uttar Pradesh. However, both the Samajwadi Party and the Congress know that neither has the capacity to contest all 403 seats on its own. The Samajwadi Party is weak in western Uttar Pradesh, while the Congress's organisational presence is negligible across the rest of the state.
As a result, both sides are making claims and counterclaims, but they also know that neither party is likely to make much headway without coming together. Both want to strengthen their respective bargaining positions before sitting down at the alliance table.
Imran Masood has claimed that the Congress has handed the Samajwadi Party a list of more than 150 seats. The Samajwadi Party, however, has not confirmed that any alliance talks have taken place.
So far, there may have been informal signals around the alliance, but no formal negotiations have begun. The Samajwadi Party wants to take the matter up until the election is announced, while senior Congress leaders want to settle everything related to the alliance as soon as possible.- EndsPublished By: Sayan GangulyPublished On: Sep 21, 2026 17:55 IST
