The Congress is reportedly dissatisfied with the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) offer of two seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh bypolls, pushing for a third seat to contest. Sources reveal that despite informal talks between Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav, the two parties have yet to finalize an agreement. The bypolls are crucial for both parties, as they come on the heels of their alliance’s strong showing in the recent Lok Sabha elections, where the INDIA bloc, consisting of the Congress and the SP, won 43 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 parliamentary seats.
The Samajwadi Party has proposed that Congress contest in two constituencies—Ghaziabad and Khair (Aligarh)—but has already announced its own candidate for the Phulpur seat, which Congress is still claiming. The Congress leadership, including Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pandey, state party chief Ajay Rai, and leader Aradhana Mishra, are in discussions with the SP, but insiders say Akhilesh Yadav’s party is unlikely to budge from its current offer of two seats.
Sources suggest that the seat-sharing issue was briefly discussed during the swearing-in ceremony of Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, which Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended earlier this week. Congress leaders are said to be keen on finalizing the deal soon, but tensions over the Phulpur seat may prolong negotiations.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has already started campaigning for the bypolls, having announced Sumbul Rana as its candidate from the Meerapur seat. Akhilesh Yadav has also begun campaigning for his party’s candidates in Maharashtra, even as the UP seat-sharing talks remain unresolved. The bypolls, set for November 13, cover nine Assembly constituencies: Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur city), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj), and Kundarki (Moradabad). These seats became vacant either due to their former MLAs being elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls or, in the case of Sisamau, due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki following a criminal conviction.
With the Election Commission announcing November 20 as the date for counting votes, both parties face mounting pressure to finalize their seat-sharing arrangement. Congress is particularly under strain to perform well, given the recent electoral setbacks in Haryana and its inability to make significant gains in Jammu. However, with no resolution in sight, the UP bypolls may test the durability of the SP-Congress alliance forged under the INDIA bloc.
