Congress seeks 181 seats in the 2027 UP elections, a significant leap from its poor 2022 performance. Akhilesh Yadav confirmed the demand during a summit, highlighting ongoing negotiations within the INDIA bloc alliance.
AMID THE SPECULATIONS of Samajwadi Party and Congress reaching a seat-sharing deadlock ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections, the President of the former has given a striking insight into the negotiations. According to Akhilesh Yadav, Congress is demanding to contest 181 seats, nearly half of the state’s 403 Assembly constituencies, in the 2027 elections. The remark came during the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2026 on Saturday, November 14, 2026.
In the last Assembly elections in 2022, Congress had only managed to win two seats before the formation of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in 2023, where SP joined hands with the national party. The INDIA bloc fought the 2024 general elections together, with SP contesting 63 out of 80 Lok Sabha constituencies from UP and Congress contesting 17 (the remaining one going to TMC). However, the state politics in Uttar Pradesh is a different story.
While speaking to the host, Hindustan Times journalist Sunetra Choudhury, Yadav said that the SP-Congress alliance stands firm ahead of the polls. When asked about the seat allocation between the two parties, he said that the Samajwadi Party is clear on how many seats it will contest. Then Choudhury asked a hypothetical question which led to the SP President revealing more about his alliance partner’s demand. She asked, “What if the Congress asked for 100 seats in UP?”
Yadav smiled and immediately replied that 100 is below what the actual demand is. The host was eager to dig into the actual number and asked whether it is 180, to which Yadav replied, “Add one more to 180,” confirming that Congress has demanded 181 seats.
However, throughout the 35-minute conversation, the SP chief remained steadfast behind the INDIA bloc alliance, saying that both the parties are having cordial discussions and will together fight the elections against the ruling BJP government.
The Congress party’s demand of nearly half of the UP assembly seats may come as a shock to many, especially considering its performance in the 2022 Assembly elections. The party contested on nearly all of the seats but had an abysmal result, winning only 2 seats with a vote share of 2.33%. Meanwhile, SP won 111 seats in the state in the same elections, demonstrating that they have a stronghold of state politics.
After the formation of the INDIA bloc, the parties distributed the 80 Lok Sabha seats among themselves in 2024. Congress, contesting 17 seats, won six of them, while SP won 37 out of the 63 seats it contested. Congress’s demand for 181 seats in the 2027 Assembly elections represents a significant jump in terms of share in the UP polls. In the 2024 elections, the Rahul Gandhi-led party contested 21% of the state’s 80 parliamentary constituencies. However, this alleged demand will take their seat share to nearly 45% of the state’s 403 Assembly seats.
Looking at Congress’s performance in 2024, one can argue it does have some bargaining power. The party managed to win prominent high-profile seats in the Lok Sabha elections, including Rae Bareli and Amethi, signaling a revival in the state. On the other hand, history is not on the party's side. Congress has not even crossed 50 seats in Uttar Pradesh since 1991, with its tally only declining since then, falling to just two in the 2022 elections.
The negotiations between SP and Congress are still underway, and the distribution of seats can possibly determine how the 2027 elections will unfold, with the opposition alliance eyeing to dethrone the incumbent BJP.
[OG/HP]
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