LUCKNOW, October 25 (Aalimi Nation) – Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has taken charge of the Congress's seat-mapping exercise in Uttar Pradesh ahead of talks with the Samajwadi Party (SP) on an alliance for the 2027 Assembly elections, according to party leaders. The Priyanka Gandhi UP seat-sharing push comes as both sides publicly disagree over whether any list has actually been exchanged.

Party leaders, who did not want to be named, said Ms. Gandhi has asked the state unit to identify constituencies where the Congress has a strong claim. The assessment is said to cover the party's results in the 2012, 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections, along with segments where it did relatively well in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Party sources put the number under consideration at roughly 115 to 130 seats.

What the Congress side says

An unnamed state Congress leader said the party wants to avoid a repeat of 2017, when it felt the SP had the upper hand in seat-sharing. Another party insider said Ms. Gandhi met Uttar Pradesh leaders in New Delhi for more than three hours and discussed every seat that might be shared with the SP.

According to party sources, the Congress has sent the SP a list of between 175 and nearly 200 seats, divided into categories. The first, of about 100 seats, includes 80 segments where the Congress led or finished second in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The figures vary between accounts, and the party has not released an official list.

Congress leaders also point to 2024, when the party contested 17 Lok Sabha seats in alliance with the SP and won six. Party sources say Rahul Gandhi's campaign helped the INDIA bloc's performance in the state.

The SP's response

Udayveer Singh, a senior SP leader who coordinated alliance talks in 2024, denied that any official list had been received. He said alliance negotiations require coordination committees from both parties and that the Congress had not formed one. Informal submissions, he said, would not be taken seriously.

Mr. Singh said the SP expects the Congress to negotiate seriously and that nothing had been finalised. Party sources separately said SP president Akhilesh Yadav stresses winnability as the basis for allocation and is unwilling to concede more than about 115 seats; another report put the SP's likely offer at 60 to 65.

Background and next steps

The Congress won only two of the 399 seats it contested in the 2022 Assembly polls, when Ms. Gandhi was the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge. Rajendra Pal Gautam is now the state in-charge, with Aradhana Mishra as state president and Imran Masood as working president.

Party sources said talks began in Lucknow and that the Congress plans to hold state-level discussions first before senior leaders speak directly. A Delhi rally of the INDIA bloc is scheduled for November 1, and both parties are reported to be aiming to settle the arrangement by November.

All seat numbers above come from party sources, were not given on the record, and have not been independently confirmed.