Congress-SP seat-sharing talks broke down in Uttar Pradesh over choice of seats

By Rahil Nora Chopra

After the Congress faced a shock loss in Haryana assembly polls and performed poorly on its own in Jammu and Kashmir elections, the discussions in the Congress for seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh by polls were managed by Avinash Pandey and Ajay Rai. The Congress is demanding 3 out of 9 seats but SP is not keen to give more than 2 seats such as Ghaziabad and Khair seats to save the relationship. Both parties are competing for Muslim and Dalit voters, particularly in seats like Phulpur, Meerapur and Majhawan. The numbers were not all that far apart but the problem was in the choice of seats. While leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav spoke twice to sort out the differences but the conversation ended with no result. Avinash Pandey called the SP leaders and told them that the party had decided not to contest at all and would support the nominees of the INDIA Bloc including the SP. The outcome of these by-polls could shape the political landscape ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.