UP Assembly Election: Ahead of the seat-sharing talks with Samajwadi Party, Congress held a high-profile meeting on Monday under the leadership of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. As per the reports, state leaders, including President Aradhana Misra and MP Imran Masood, submitted a list of seats where Congress can contest the coming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. The grand old party is likely to demand 125-150 out of the 403 total constituencies.

Priyanka Gandhi Heads Meeting

The Congress leaders reportedly discussed 175 seats, where the party has a strong cadre network. The total seats were divided into three categories depending on the ground cadre presence and prominent leader. The party is also likely to hold another meeting later this week to finalize the list. Priyanka Gandhi is likely to lead the talks with the Samajwadi Party as Congress prepares to conclude the talks by the end of November.

The party is likely to seek seats for its senior leaders, including Ajay Rai, Ajay Kumar Lallu, Nadeem Javed, Aradhana Misra, and Supriya Shrinate.

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What SP Could Offer?

While Congress is likely to seek 125 seats, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party is reportedly not willing to offer over 60 seats. The socialist party is hesitant, as Congress could only manage to win two seats in the previous 2022 assembly polls, that too when Priyanka Gandhi led the campaign. However, the senior leaders are in favor of contesting the polls together, as the INDIA bloc outperformed the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

What To Expect?

The seat-sharing talks are likely to begin in the coming weeks when senior leaders from both the parties are expected to hold multiple rounds of meetings. While there has been no official announcement, both the parties are likely to contest the polls together. Earlier in 2017 polls, while the Akhilesh Yadav-led party contested 298 seats, Congress fought on 105 seats; however, the alliance faced a humiliating defeat back then. The assembly election in Uttar Pradesh is likely to be held in the early months of 2027.

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