Even 50 is too many: Samajwadi MP on ally Congress's '150 seats in UP' demand

As the Samajwadi Party and Congress prepare to hold deliberations over seat-sharing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the yet-to-be-decided formula for the pre-poll alliance seems to have already become the point of contention.Samajwadi Party MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel on Saturday questioned the Congress' demand for 150 seats, saying the party should seek seats in proportion to its electoral strength and organisational presence.The parliamentarian, who represents Pratapgarh in the Lok Sabha, also revealed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi himself was initially reluctant to contest Rae Bareli in the 2024 Lok Sabha election."Rahul Gandhi was afraid to contest from Rae Bareli. When he went to [SP supremo] Akhilesh Yadav to explain his position and speak to him, Akhilesh told him that if he did not contest, he would field his own candidate. Only then did he fill the nomination," Patel claimed.He said that letting the Congress party field its candidates for even 50 seats would be a "big deal." Patel, however, stressed that the SP-Congress alliance should remain intact.The remarks came days after Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam said his party would not contest fewer than 150 of UP's 403 Assembly seats under an alliance arrangement with the SP in the 2027 UP Assembly polls."150 seats is out of the question. Even giving them 50 seats would be a big deal," Patel said in an interaction with India Today' sister channel, Aaj Tak.SP-CONGRESS SEAT-SHARING TALKS SOONSeat-sharing discussions between the SP and the Congress are set to begin later this month.Patel also cited the Congress' performance in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, when it contested all 403 seats but won just two. He questioned whether the party had drawn a lesson from its previous electoral performance in the state.He also asserted that the alliance with the SP was crucial to the Congress' performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the grand old party won six seats in Uttar Pradesh."If there had not been an alliance with us, then their six MPs would not have won," Patel said. The SP won 37 seats in the state in that election.- Ends