UP polls: Congress submits seat list to Samajwadi Party for alliance talks

Congress has formally opened seat-sharing negotiations with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, handing over a categorized roster of between 172 and 200 constituencies to its regional partner.

Rajendra Pal Gautam, the Congress in-charge for the state, confirmed that party managers submitted the dossier to Samajwadi Party leadership to frame upcoming bilateral discussions. Congress leaders classified the seats into four groups based on their perceived local strength, hoping to secure what they describe as a respectable share in the 403-member legislative assembly.

Samajwadi Party prioritises winnability over seat demands

The scale of the pitch has met immediate scepticism inside the Samajwadi Party. Senior functionaries around party president Akhilesh Yadav insist that ticket distribution must track ground strength rather than opening bids.

Akhilesh Yadav has repeatedly maintained that demonstrable winnability will remain the sole criterion for allocating constituencies across the alliance. Samajwadi Party strategists privately argue that an inflated allocation risks squandering contested seats, pointing to the grand old party's long-running organisational weakness across Uttar Pradesh since it last held state power in 1989.

Congress strategists take a different view, buoyed by the 2024 general election outcome where the joint opposition bloc managed to secure parliamentary ground. In that contest, the Samajwadi Party claimed 37 Lok Sabha seats while Congress secured six, containing the Bharatiya Janata Party to 33 seats in the state.

Shifts in party leadership shape negotiations

Inside Congress, recent managerial reshuffles are directly tied to alliance diplomacy. Aradhana Misra, known locally as "Mona", took over as state unit chief from Ajay Rai, who had favoured entering the race independently before considering any post-poll coalition. Misra maintains close ties with the Samajwadi leadership, a dynamic Congress hopes will prevent talks from stalling.

Yet the arithmetic in state elections has historically favored the ruling BJP, whose governance platform and vast delivery of public infrastructure have delivered decisive assembly majorities in back-to-back state contests.

What happens next

Working groups from both parties are scheduled to meet over the coming weeks to examine the proposed list seat by seat. Samajwadi managers expect Congress to scale back its initial claim sharply once detailed constituency surveys, caste composition data, and past performance records are placed on the table.