New Delhi: The Congress is eyeing around 125 seats in an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, with general secretary Priyanka Gandhi leading the negotiations.
On Monday, Priyanka Gandhi held a three-hour meeting with Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders on seat allocation. About 175 seats were discussed, according to party insiders. The party has drawn up a list of roughly 100 'Category A' seats, 40 to 50 'Category B' seats and 25 to 35 'Category C' seats.
Another meeting is expected this week, after which the Congress may place a list of about 125 to 150 seats before the Samajwadi Party. The aim is to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement by November.
State chief Aradhana Misra, working president Imran Masood and state in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam attended the discussions. Gautam has insisted the Congress deserves no fewer than 150 seats.
Akhilesh Yadav's party is not keen on sparing more than 60 to 65 seats, with the SP chief repeatedly stressing "winnability" as the criterion. Yadav has begun finalising candidates on several seats as he eyes contesting around 350 of the 403 seats.
The Congress is building its list on data from the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly elections. It wants at least one assembly seat in every Lok Sabha constituency and is staking a claim to seats in Amethi, Raebareli and Saharanpur.
The stakes are high for a party that has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh since 1989 and won just two of 403 seats in 2022. In 2024, contesting in alliance with the SP, the Congress won six of the 17 Lok Sabha seats it fought.