Congress demanding 181 seats in UP Assembly elections: Akhilesh Yadav
What's the story
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav has confirmed that the Congress party wants to contest 181 seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. This is the first time such a demand has been officially acknowledged. The announcement was made during a session at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi on Saturday. "The number of seats they have asked for is higher than what you are suggesting," Yadav said when quizzed about Congress's seat demand.
Election strategy
SP prioritizes candidate winnability over seat numbers
The Congress's demand for 181 seats comes amid ongoing seat-sharing talks with the SP.
However, Yadav stressed that the SP's focus is on candidate winnability instead of just seat numbers.
He reiterated that defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains their top priority in these elections.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, an alliance between Congress and SP had won six and 37 seats respectively, out of a total of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Election history
Congress's performance in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections
The Congress contested the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections alone but could only win two seats, a drop from seven seats in 2017.
The party contested 399 seats and secured a vote share of only 2.33%.
In contrast, the SP won 111 seats in the same election.
The BJP had won a majority with 255 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections.
Alliance outlook
The Congress-SP alliance's performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
The Congress and SP had together won 43 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2024, polling 43.52% of the votes.
The BJP's seat count fell from 62 in 2019 to just 33, marking a historic low since 2014.
Despite the Congress's poor performance in past Assembly elections, its showing in the parliamentary polls has raised hopes for continued cooperation with SP ahead of the upcoming elections.