Seat-sharing differences may be straining the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, but the electoral arithmetic of 2024 offers both parties a compelling reason to stay together: their combined lead extended to more than 220 of the state’s 403 assembly segments.
An analysis of assembly segment-wise leads in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections suggests that if the voting pattern is repeated, the INDIA bloc could pose a formidable challenge to the BJP. The BJP’s Lok Sabha tally in Uttar Pradesh fell from 62 seats in 2019 to 33 in 2024, while the SP and Congress together won 43 of the state’s 80 seats. The SP won 37 and the Congress six.
“An alliance is very important for the Congress and the Samajwadi Party if they want to defeat the BJP. If the SP and the Congress decide to come together, they may pose a serious challenge to the BJP. “We hope the central leadership of the two parties will soon reach a seat-sharing understanding.
Nationally, the Congress won 99 seats, emerging as the second-largest party, while the BJP retained its position as the largest party with 240 seats. The assembly segment-wise breakdown shows the SP-Congress alliance leading in more than 220 segments. The Trinamool Congress also led in one segment, taking the combined lead to 221. UP Congress president Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ said the INDIA bloc would perform better in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections than it did in the state in 2024.
Both parties may initially have differences over seat-sharing, but they will eventually realise its importance and come together if the prevailing political situation is taken into account,” said professor SK Dwivedi, former head of the political science department at Lucknow University. We are sure whatever decision is taken on the seat-sharing issue will be in accordance with the honour and feelings of the Congress and its workers,” said Mishra. Samajwadi Party chief spokesman and former minister Rajendra Chaudhary said both the parties were yet to begin talks for seat sharing. He said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had already made it clear that the winnability of candidates, and not the number of seats, would be the main criteria for seat-sharing.
