New Delhi: What does the size of one’s heart have to do with political alliances? Maybe too much, when there are allies Congress and Samajwadi Party, and the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are at stake.‘UP ke boy’ gives results in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. partnership between Akhilesh Yadav And Rahul Gandhi Helped India Block win 43 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh BJP This is the biggest electoral setback in the state in a decade.Now, as both parties prepare for seat-sharing talks for next year’s assembly elections, leaders from both sides want the other to show a “big heart” and be more accommodating.
The ‘Boys of UP’ proved to be a winning combination in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Akhilesh made the first appeal. At a crisis meeting of the India Bloc on June 9 after Mamata Banerjee’s crushing defeat in West Bengal, the SP chief advised the Congress: “Show a big heart and be generous.”The message was clear: Congress should avoid competing with regional allies and recognize its dominance in states where it remains the major opposition force.With the Congress facing criticism from allies over its aggressive stance during the elections, Rahul responded with emphatic assurance: “I will bear every insult to unite this group and make it successful. What is the main issue here? I am not interested in fighting you. I would have to be crazy to suddenly get up and say I am going to fight you because you are our allies, you are our friends, you are the people we love.“However, Rahul’s cordial message has not stopped Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh from making ambitious claims. He has reversed the “big heart” argument, and asked the SP to offer the Congress equal status, a respectable deal and, according to some leaders, 50:50 parity.Saharanpur MP Imran Masood has argued that SP will benefit more from alliance in 2024.
Saharanpur MP Imran Masood has claimed that SP benefited more than Congress from their alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Rajesh Tiwari, Congress’ co-in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, made a similar argument: “The SP is keen to lead the next government in the state. Therefore, it should have a big heart.”This voice became louder on July 2 when the newly appointed in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Congress, Rajendra Pal Gautam, said that the party would contest the assembly elections on the principles of “equality and respect”.These comments appear to be a far cry from Rahul’s cordial intervention at the India Bloc meeting in June. But the posture of Congress leaders is not surprising. Seat-sharing has repeatedly emerged as a point of friction between the party and its regional allies.The same tension has played out in several states where the Congress has attempted to balance its national ambitions with the political dominance of regional partners.
Bihar
Congress and RJD failed to finalize the seat-sharing agreement even as nominations began for the first phase of assembly elections in Bihar. The lack of coordination became evident when Tejashwi Yadav filed his nomination papers without any senior Congress leader.The two parties eventually reached an agreement, but delays had already exposed divisions within the grand alliance and disrupted its preparations. It is no surprise that his grand alliance was destroyed by the BJP and its allies.
Haryana
In Haryana, several rounds of talks between the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP failed to reach a consensus on seat-sharing. The two parties could not agree on the number and choice of constituencies, while the bitterness of their rivalry in Delhi made compromise even more difficult.Ultimately they contested the elections separately, leaving the opposition field divided across several constituencies. Congress returned to power for the third consecutive time and failed to oust BJP from power.
Madhya Pradesh
But when it comes to seat-sharing with the Samajwadi Party, there is already a history of bitterness between the two allies. There was an open war of words between Akhilesh Yadav and the then CM face of Congress, Kamal Nath, who refused to give any land to the Samajwadi Party in the state. This happened when the opposition had joined hands at the national level under the banner of India Bloc to fight the BJP. Despite this, the Congress high command remained a mute spectator as Kamal Nath refused to bow down. Kamal Nath, who was then confident of victory, announced that the India Bloc was only for the national elections. Bitterness over the 2024 Lok Sabha elections complicated negotiations, before intervention by senior leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra helped save the partnership.
What is happening now?
Now, as the assembly elections are approaching, both the parties have started maintaining pressure. Congress leaders have been more vocal in citing the party’s national position, as they often do when dealing with regional allies.In fact, newly appointed Congress in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam, who is to oversee the party’s campaign in UP, has claimed that the SP’s success in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was because the Congress was projected as the senior partner.
Gautam attributed the victory of India Bloc in 2024 to the Congress leadership and argued that only Rahul Gandhi has the national stature to take on the BJP.
The Congress leader also claimed that if the party was not given due respect within the alliance, it would be like giving a “walkover” to the BJP.Interestingly, both the parties are citing past results to justify their claims. The Congress points to the Samajwadi Party’s performance in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, arguing that its stellar performance in 2024 was a result of its alliance with the grand old party.The SP won five seats in 2014 when it contested alone and five seats in 2019 when it formed an alliance with Mayawati’s BSP. However, when SP and Congress contested the elections together in 2024, SP’s seats increased to 37. Congress leaders claim that this sharp growth is due to the influence of the grand old party.Let us now analyze the performance of Congress in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.Congress has been out of power in UP since 1989. Over the past four decades, its presence in the state assembly has steadily declined, and the party has remained largely confined to the Gandhi family strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi. In the Lok Sabha elections, Congress won only two seats in 2014 and one seat in 2019, increasing its tally to six in 2024.Congress and SP had contested the 2017 assembly elections in alliance, but lost to the BJP. While SP won 47 seats, Congress could win only seven seats.Congress is contesting alone in the 2022 elections. Under the leadership of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the party contested 399 seats, with 40% women candidates. Despite this, the party’s performance remained poor and its vote share dropped to 2.33%.
How was the performance of SP and Congress when they fought separately?
Congress managed to win only two seats – Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ from Rampur Khas in Pratapgarh district and Virendra Chaudhary from Farenda in Maharajganj district. This is the party’s worst ever assembly election performance in Uttar Pradesh.So, will the ‘two boys of UP’ unite again in 2027, as they did in 2024, to stun the BJP-led NDA in Uttar Pradesh? A lot of cordiality has been seen between Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav. The two used their birthdays, 12 days apart, to cement their shared commitment to fight the BJP. But to ensure that this cordiality translates into electoral gains for both parties, they will have to rein in their leaders, especially those from the Congress.When Congress surprised everyone by staging a sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in the national capital over the NEET issue, Akhilesh was by Rahul Gandhi’s side. The two leaders have also held a closed-door meeting in Parliament with Priyanka Gandhi, perhaps to outline a workable seat-sharing formula acceptable to both parties.The stakes are higher for the SP, which is in the race to form the next government in UP and knows that the support of its allies could be crucial to achieving that objective. Congress, with just two seats in the assembly, has nothing to lose in the state. However, the grand old party would do well to realize that another failed experiment with alliances could further isolate it within the Indian bloc it leads.Amidst the recent controversies, BJP is going through a challenging phase in Uttar Pradesh. But Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath He himself is leading the fight and is quick to capitalize on perceived differences between the two allies. Although Congress leaders are making strong comments to put pressure on Akhilesh, they should understand that this move risks creating a perception among voters that the two allies are fighting. And if Congress and SP lose this battle of perception then it may be difficult to win the elections. Bihar has already shown how harmful such a perception can be.SP and Congress have already shown that they can harm BJP when they fight together. The challenge in 2027 will be to ensure that the fight over seats does not start before the battle for Uttar Pradesh. Whether they can put aside competing ambitions and agree on who should show the ‘big heart’ will decide whether the ‘UP boys’ can make things happen again.
