Akhilesh’S 2027 alliance hint: Congress leaders welcome move, party workers in Catch-22 situation
The SP emerged as the single largest party in the state with 37 Lok Sabha seats relegating the BJP to the second position with 33 seats.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s hint at the likely continuation of the SP-Congress alliance in the 2027 assembly elections as part of the INDIA bloc may put the grand old party in a Catch-22 situation in Uttar Pradesh.
“INDIA bloc exists and will remain,” Akhilesh Yadav said at Prayagraj on Sunday, indicating that the SP and the Congress would fight 2027 UP assembly elections as INDIA bloc partners.
Yadav’s assertion has come when the Congress is undergoing a revamp and trying to strengthen the organisation across the state.
The key question that Congress leaders will have to answer to party workers in the coming months is: Whether to strengthen the party for an ‘ekla chalo’ policy (go it alone) in the 2027 polls or get ready to play second fiddle to the SP? Senior Congress leaders have, however, welcomed Yadav’s indication for now.
“This is a welcome move. The Congress contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and is ready to do so in 2027 UP assembly elections,” said All India Congress Committee general secretary (incharge UP) Avinash Pandey.
The SP and Congress together had bagged 43 seats of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2024. The BJP and its allies could win 36. With this, the SP emerged as the single largest party in the state with 37 Lok Sabha seats relegating the BJP to the second position with 33 seats.
As an alliance with the SP for the 2027 polls is likely to restrict the Congress to contesting about 80-100 assembly seats, the party leadership may have to rework the strategy. The party leaders will have to ensure participation of all the district units in the poll process even if they decide to go for seat-sharing with the SP in the 2027 U.P. assembly elections. Asked to comment about whether the Congress was ready for fewer seats, Pandey said this was not the right time to discuss such issues. Other senior leaders, however, said strengthening the organisation in all the 403 UP assembly constituencies did not mean contesting all the seats.
“We are strengthening the organisation to meet any eventuality. A strong Congress organisation in the state will give more bargaining power to the party to stake claim to more assembly seats to contest in alliance with the SP,” a senior Congress leader said, pointing out that the SP-Congress seat-sharing did not work in the by-election to 10 U.P. assembly seats because of the poor organisational base of the grand old party. “We are strengthening the organisation to ensure that the party is able to stake claim to at least two assembly seats in every district. Uttar Pradesh has 75 districts and this will place the party in a bargaining position for at least 150 seats,” another Congress leader said.
A meeting of the Congress’ political affairs committee has been convened on April 23 to work out a road map for the party for the coming months. Pandey said he has also called all the newly appointed district party unit presidents to discuss important issues at the meeting. Resentment is said to be brewing in the party’s units in many districts in view of last-minute changes in the list forwarded by the state unit of the party. The party leadership may consider amending some of the lists of district party units to pacify those raising objections against “unnecessary” last-minute changes.
