Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel has questioned the Congress’ demand for at least 150 seats in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, saying the number of seats sought by an alliance partner should reflect its electoral strength and organisational presence.

Patel’s remarks come as the SP and Congress prepare to begin seat-sharing discussions for the 2027 Assembly polls. Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam had said the party would not contest fewer than 150 of the state’s 403 Assembly seats under an alliance arrangement with the SP. The Congress has also said it expects the seat-sharing exercise to be finalised in October.

Patel, who represents Pratapgarh in the Lok Sabha, said even allowing the Congress to contest 50 seats would be a significant concession. At the same time, he said the alliance between the two parties should remain intact.

SP MP says 150-seat demand is too high

Speaking to India Today’s sister channel Aaj Tak, Patel questioned the basis for the Congress’ demand for 150 seats.

“150 seats is out of the question. Even giving them 50 seats would be a big deal,” Patel said, according to the report.

He argued that the number of constituencies allotted to each alliance partner should be linked to its electoral performance and organisational presence rather than simply the number of seats it seeks.

The comments have brought the issue of seat-sharing into sharper focus even before formal negotiations begin. The Congress and SP are both part of the INDIA bloc and had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh as allies.

Congress’ demand is based on its stated intention to contest at least 150 seats. Gautam had said the party has candidates available for all 403 Assembly constituencies and that it considers itself entitled to a substantial share of the seats under an alliance arrangement.

The SP has not announced a final seat-sharing formula with the Congress.

Congress won two seats in 2022 Assembly polls

Patel referred to the Congress’ performance in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election while making his argument.

The Congress contested 399 seats in the 2022 election and won two, according to election data. The SP won 111 seats, while the BJP won 255.

The Congress’ two-seat tally was a sharp decline from its earlier performance in the state. The party’s vote share in 2022 was around 2.33%, according to the available election statistics.

Patel questioned whether the Congress had drawn lessons from that electoral performance while seeking a large share of seats in the forthcoming Assembly election.

The 2022 figures, however, relate to the previous Assembly election and do not by themselves determine the eventual 2027 seat-sharing formula. Both parties have since contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election together in Uttar Pradesh, producing a different electoral outcome.

Congress and SP results changed in 2024

The political context shifted during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, when the SP and Congress fought the Uttar Pradesh contest as allies.

The SP won 37 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress won six. The BJP won 33 seats, while the remaining seats went to other parties.

Rahul Gandhi won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat for the Congress, defeating BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh by more than 3.9 lakh votes.

Patel, however, attributed the Congress’ six-seat performance in Uttar Pradesh to its alliance with the SP.

“If there had not been an alliance with us, then their six MPs would not have won,” he said.

That is Patel’s political assessment of the 2024 result. The official election result establishes the number of seats won by each party, but does not by itself establish whether all of the Congress’ victories were caused by the alliance.

Patel makes claim about Rae Bareli contest

Patel also made a claim about Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest Rae Bareli in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

According to Patel, Gandhi was initially reluctant to contest from Rae Bareli and approached SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to discuss his position.

Patel claimed that Yadav told Gandhi that if he did not contest, the SP would field its own candidate from the constituency. Patel said Gandhi subsequently filed his nomination.

The claim was made by Patel in his interaction and has been presented as his account of the events. It is not independently established by the election results themselves.

Gandhi ultimately won Rae Bareli by a margin of more than 3.9 lakh votes, according to the 2024 election results.

Seat-sharing talks expected in October

The immediate challenge for the two parties is to agree on a formula before the 2027 Assembly election.

Gautam has said the Congress will not contest fewer than 150 seats and that the party expects the seat-sharing exercise to be finalised in October. He has also said Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal are involved in the exercise.

The demand covers more than one-third of Uttar Pradesh’s 403 Assembly constituencies. The final number, however, will depend on negotiations between the alliance partners and any other parties included in the electoral arrangement.

For the SP, the negotiations will also have to account for its position as the larger partner in terms of seats won in the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh. The SP won 37 seats in the state compared with the Congress’ six.

Both parties want alliance to continue

Despite his criticism of the Congress’ seat demand, Patel stressed that the SP-Congress alliance should remain intact.

His comments therefore reflect a dispute over the distribution of constituencies rather than a call to end the alliance.

The two parties have previously faced differences over seat-sharing while working together in Uttar Pradesh. Their 2024 Lok Sabha arrangement resulted in the SP contesting 62 seats and the Congress 17, with the SP winning 37 and the Congress six.

The 2027 Assembly negotiations will involve a much larger number of constituencies because Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly seats.

The Election Commission of India lists Uttar Pradesh as having 403 Assembly constituencies, with the current Assembly’s term ending in May 2027.

A new round of negotiations begins

The disagreement over the Congress’ 150-seat demand has surfaced before the two parties have finalised their seat-sharing talks.

For the Congress, the demand represents its stated position going into negotiations. For the SP, Patel has argued that the allocation should instead be linked to electoral strength and organisational presence.

The two parties’ recent electoral record provides different reference points. The Congress won only two Assembly seats in 2022 but increased its Lok Sabha tally to six in Uttar Pradesh in 2024 while contesting in alliance with the SP. The SP, meanwhile, won 111 Assembly seats in 2022 and 37 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.

Neither the 2022 Assembly result nor the 2024 Lok Sabha result automatically determines the 2027 formula. The final arrangement will be decided through negotiations between the alliance partners.

With discussions expected to take place in October, seat allocation is likely to remain a key issue for the SP-Congress alliance as the parties prepare for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.