SP fails to gain from ally Cong’s absence in bypolls

The Congress’s absence from the by-elections to nine assembly seats failed to work to the advantage of the Samajwadi Party, a major constituent of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.

The SP, which had sitting MLAs on four of these nine seats, did not accommodate the Congress, which was demanding three seats.

The bypoll outcome, in which the SP won only two of the nine seats, has come as a setback for the alliance, exposed the chinks within it and the lack of coordination between the two partners.

The SP-Congress alliance won 43 (37 SP and 6 Congress) of UP’s 80 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, pushing the BJP and its allies to second position and projecting the INDIA bloc as an effective and workable combination of political forces that could be a strong contender for power in the 2027 UP assembly elections.

As the Congress and the SP failed to reach any understanding on seat-sharing, the Congress decided not to field its candidates and gave a free hand to the Samajwadi Party. The move failed to work in favour of the Congress-SP alliance.

“This (Congress’ move) made the SP overconfident. The SP not only refused to accommodate the Congress, its district level leaders too appeared least interested in taking much cooperation from the local Congress leaders on the bypoll seats. At many places, the SP leaders did not invite the Congress for campaigning. They ensured that only two or three Congress leaders reached the dais. This demoralised the Congress cadres in the district and the alliance failed to give strong signals of unity and did not click,” said a senior Congress leader.

Another leader said the Congress won support of the Dalits in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the minorities also looked towards the grand old party in Lok Sabha elections. The SP’s PDA formula made the alliance stronger in the parliamentary elections but this was not so in the bypoll.

“The Congress’s ‘threat to Constitution’ call failed to work and the SP was left alone with the PDA formula, which needed a further push,” said the leader.

Those aware of the matter said instead of working on a seat-sharing understanding at the last minute, the two parties have to work on a seat-to-seat basis from now for the 2027 polls. The Congress, which initially staked claim to five out of 10 bypoll seats (by-election was held for nine of 10 seats as bypoll could not be held in Milkipur due to legal reasons), wanted to contest at least three seats.

When the SP refused to relent, offering a maximum of two seats to the Congress, the grand old party decided not to field its candidates and give the SP a free hand in the by-poll. This could have been resolved, and a seat-sharing deal could have been reached with an accommodative approach by the SP, those in the know of things said.

“Yes, the Samajwadi Party apparently wanted to convey to the Congress - “we can (do) without you” failing to realise that the grand old party’s contribution in the SP-Congress alliance’s improved performance in the 2024 polls. The SP has failed to tilt the scales in its favour even on the minority dominated seats in the absence of the Congress,” said a senior Congress leader.