Congress seeks up to 200 seats in Uttar Pradesh talks with Samajwadi Party

Congress has submitted a list of Uttar Pradesh Assembly constituencies it wants to contest as it negotiates a seat-sharing arrangement with the Samajwadi Party for the 2027 state election. The reported list size ranges from around 170 seats to as many as 200, while Congress has characterized its aim as securing a “respectable share.”

The figures vary across the accounts. Moneycontrol reported a 172-seat proposal; The Indian Express said Congress shared a list of 180 seats; India Today described it as around 170 seats; and The Times of India reported an initial submission of more than 175 constituencies. Rajendra Pal Gautam, Congress’s in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, told PTI that the list covered 175 to 200 seats and said the parties’ leadership would negotiate the details. The accounts also describe different possible negotiating positions within Congress. The Indian Express quoted a Congress source saying the party might settle for around 80 to 90 seats. India Today reported that Congress leaders were reluctant to accept fewer than 115 to 120. The Times of India reported Gautam’s higher 175-to-200-seat range. These are separate reported positions, not a settled allocation. The Samajwadi Party has asked Congress to identify candidates it considers winnable, according to The Indian Express, which reported that Congress had not supplied those names. Instead, Congress shared a list of constituencies. The Times of India reported that Gautam said the two parties’ leadership would work through the details together. Congress’s case for a larger share, as reported by India Today, rests on its 2024 Lok Sabha performance and what party leaders describe as Rahul Gandhi’s growing acceptance in North India. Moneycontrol reported that the parties contested that election together in Uttar Pradesh: the Samajwadi Party won 37 of the state’s 80 seats and Congress won six. The Samajwadi Party’s leaders are not uniformly convinced by Congress’s demand. The Times of India reported that several questioned whether Congress had enough political clout to seek 175 to 200 seats. The parties are therefore negotiating both the number of constituencies each would contest and the basis for deciding which candidates can win. The immediate next step is for the parties’ leadership to negotiate the allocation, as Gautam described it. The reports give no agreed seat count: the figures range from the lower numbers floated by sources to the much larger list Congress has submitted, and the Samajwadi Party has raised the question of candidate winnability.