The Samajwadi Party on Saturday announced that its INDI bloc partner Congress would contest 11 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the SP had allotted 7 seats to the Jayant Choudhury-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). After allocating 11 seats to the Congress, the SP would now focus on 62 seats, mostly in the eastern, central, and Bundelkhand regions.

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In light of these developments, it was concluded that the BSP would not be a part of this alliance. The Congress had tried its best to persuade the BSP to join the alliance.

The Congress leadership in UP kept mum on the unilateral decision of the SP and maintained that the central leadership of the party would take the final call. The Congress had been demanding at least 25 seats in UP as part of the alliance.

In a post on X, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said: “Our cordial alliance with Congress is off to a good start with 11 strong seats. This trend will continue further with the winning equation. The team of ‘India’ and the strategy of ‘PDA’ will change history in UP.”

Media reports suggest that disagreement prevails within the Congress regarding Akhilesh Yadav’s offer. The party feels that Akhilesh Yadav has taken this decision and that the Congress has nothing to do with it. As of now, no official statement has been issued by any Congress leader regarding the matter.

When contacted, UP Congress president Ajay Rai tried to skirt the issue, stating that the party high command is the sole competent authority to provide any information in this regard.

SP sources revealed that the Congress was adamant on 25 seats and that a consensus was reached on 11 seats after the Gandhi family intervened in the issue.

The Congress and the SP held a meeting in Delhi on 17 January to finalise the allocation of seats. However, no consensus could be reached between the two INDI bloc partners. After the conclusion of the meeting, Congress leader Salman Khurshid said that the party would hold another round of discussion with the SP over the issue. He even opined that in the absence of any unanimity, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi or Mallikarjun Kharge will speak to Akhilesh Yadav.

Those who attended the meeting regarding seat allocation included Ajay Rai, Salman Khurshid, and Aradhana Mishra from the Congress and Ram Gopal Yadav, Javed Ali Khan, and Udayveer Singh from the SP.

According to reports, both parties discussed all the aspects regarding each seat in UP and explored all possibilities of victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Sources said that the Congress and the SP held three rounds of discussions. Notwithstanding Congress’s persistent demand for 25 seats, the SP conceded only 11 seats. Currently, the Congress represents only the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in UP.

According to sources, apart from Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Congress may contest Pratapgarh, Varanasi, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Allahabad, Saharanpur and Moradabad seats. It is believed that the SP will retain most of the seats in eastern UP.

The SP and the RLD recently struck an alliance in UP. It was decided that the RLD will contest 7 seats in UP. Among the seven seats on which an agreement was reached between the SP and the RLD, Meerut, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Mathura and Hathras are prominent. RLD may be offered one more seat – Bijnor or Amroha.

Except for 2009, Congress’s performance in the last three elections has not been impressive. In 2009, the Congress contested elections on 69 seats and won 21 while the SP contested 75 seats and won 23 seats. The BSP contested 69 seats and won 20.

However, in 2014, the Congress won only two seats after fighting 67 seats. The SP won five seats out of the 75 it contested and the BSP failed to win even a single seat out of the 80 it contested.

In 2019, the SP and the BSP contested elections in alliance. The Congress fought on 67 seats but managed to win only the Rae Bareli seat. The SP contested 37 seats but won only five while the BSP contested 38 seats and won 10. After losing Rampur and Azamgarh, the SP now has only three MPs.