Akhilesh Yadav tells Samajwadi Party leaders to stop public row with Congress over UP seats

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has ordered his party members to keep their opinions on seat-sharing negotiations with Congress behind closed doors, stepping in to calm a public spat before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, Yadav said any concerns about seat allocations must be shared internally. "Whenever the discussion takes place, we will discuss and consider their suggestions," he said, trying to protect the alliance's unity.

The intervention followed blunt public remarks from Samajwadi Party MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel. Patel had openly mocked reports that Congress is demanding at least 150 of the state’s 403 assembly seats. Calling the demand "highly unreasonable", Patel pointed to the massive power imbalance between the two allies in the state.

"They currently have two MLAs, whereas we have 125," Patel told the news agency ANI, arguing that a strict ratio would give Congress only seven or eight seats. Even if they were generous, he said, anything beyond 50 seats would be "wasting seats and risking defeat." He claimed Congress's actual capacity is closer to 25 or 30 seats.

The friction started when the Congress's state in-charge, Rajendra Pal Gautam, stated that the party has candidates ready for all 403 seats and would not accept anything less than 150 in an alliance.

Newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress president Aradhana Mishra sought to downplay the local bickering. She emphasised that the INDIA alliance was built in Delhi as a national coalition, not a regional one. "Decisions regarding this will be taken by the top leadership of the alliance and the top leadership of the constituent parties," she said, adding that the high command will decide both the seat numbers and the timing.

Despite the friction, Yadav has made it clear that the partnership is here to stay. He confirmed that the Samajwadi Party will contest the 2027 elections alongside Congress, sticking to the coalition that won 43 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Yadav also ruled out bringing new partners into the fold, such as Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM.

The 2022 assembly elections show why the Samajwadi Party feels it holds the upper hand. The BJP won a comfortable majority with 255 seats, while the Samajwadi Party secured 111. Congress was reduced to just two seats, with a tiny 2.33 per cent vote share compared to the Samajwadi Party's 32.06 per cent.