SP MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel has rejected Congress’ demand to contest at least 150 of Uttar Pradesh’s 403 Assembly seats.
Congress UP in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam had said the party would not contest fewer than 150 seats.
Patel also made an unverified claim about Rahul Gandhi’s 2024 Rae Bareli candidature.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress are headed for seat-sharing discussions for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, but differences over the number of seats each party should contest have surfaced even before formal deliberations begin.
SP Lok Sabha MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel on Saturday rejected the Congress' demand for at least 150 seats, arguing that the party should seek seats in proportion to its electoral strength and organisational presence. Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam had said last week that his party would not contest fewer than 150 of the state's 403 Assembly seats under an alliance arrangement.
Patel, who represents Pratapgarh, said the SP would find it difficult to agree to the Congress' demand.
"150 seats is out of the question. Even giving them 50 seats would be a big deal," Patel said in an interaction with Aaj Tak.
At the same time, Patel stressed that the SP-Congress alliance should remain intact.
SP Questions Congress' Electoral Strength In UP
Patel cited the Congress' performance in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, when the party contested almost all of the state's 403 seats but won only two. He questioned whether the Congress had taken its previous performance into account while deciding its current seat-sharing demand.
The Congress has argued that it has candidates available for all 403 constituencies and that it is entitled to a substantial share of seats in an alliance with the SP. Gautam said seat-sharing discussions were likely to be finalised in October.
Patel also pointed to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, when the Congress won six of Uttar Pradesh's 80 seats while the SP won 37. He attributed the Congress' performance in the state to its alliance with the SP.
"If there had not been an alliance with us, then their six MPs would not have won," Patel said.
The 2024 results show that the SP won 37 seats and the Congress six in Uttar Pradesh.
Patel Claims Rahul Gandhi Was Reluctant To Contest Rae Bareli
Patel also made a claim about Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 general election.
According to Patel, Gandhi was initially reluctant to contest from Rae Bareli and approached SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to discuss the issue. Patel claimed that Yadav told Gandhi that the SP would field its own candidate if he did not contest, following which Gandhi filed his nomination.
"Rahul Gandhi was afraid to contest from Rae Bareli," Patel claimed.
The claim is Patel's account of events and has not been independently established in the reports on his remarks.
The comments come as the two parties prepare for seat-sharing talks for the 2027 Assembly election, with their public positions currently differing sharply over the number of constituencies the Congress should contest.
