Congress names Aradhana Misra-Mona UP chief and Imran Masood working president amid SP alliance tensions.
Congress is seeking at least 150 seats, while the SP wants seat-sharing based on winnability and organisational strength.
SP said Akhilesh Yadav will decide the party's share, while Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will decide Congress' side.
Congress has named a new team in Uttar Pradesh as its alliance with the Samajwadi Party faces fresh strain a few months ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. The party has appointed Aradhana Misra-Mona as its new state president and elevated Saharanpur MP Imran Masood as working president.
The appointments send two distinct signals. Mona is widely seen as being close to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, suggesting that Congress wants to keep the channel open for smoother seat-sharing talks. Masood's elevation, however, sends a tougher message. He is a vocal critic of what he calls the SP's "big brother attitude" and has repeatedly questioned the party's approach to the alliance.
That matters as the two parties remain locked in a public disagreement over seat-sharing, with Congress leaders insisting that any arrangement should be based on "respect and equality".
The stakes are high. The 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is approaching, and Mona has acknowledged that she will have to hit the ground running as Congress seeks to regain political space it has steadily lost in the state since 1989.
The question is whether Congress can use its new appointments to steady talks with the SP or strengthen its bargaining position before the two sides sit down to negotiate the alliance.
Masood's Strong Remarks
Masood has been blunt in his criticism of the SP. In June, in a video posted on X, he said Congress would no longer accept the formula used by the SP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He also said the party was preparing to contest 200 seats in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, signalling that Congress wanted a much larger footprint in the state.
He sharpened his attack in July. "Muslims' mosques are being demolished, madrassas are being razed, injustice is being meted out to Muslims, and atrocities are being committed against Dalits. They ought to speak up on these issues, too. But they (SP leaders) won't do that; instead, they target me. If you genuinely want to fight the BJP, then finalise the alliance... If you don't want to do anything on the ground, then it means you are not honest," Masood said.
He followed it with another warning about the alliance's credibility.
"If you are shouting 'gathbandhan', then bring it to the ground. If you don't bring it to the ground and it only exists on TV and in statements, then what is the meaning of that alliance? That is not honesty. If you want to do it honestly, sit down and finalise it," he said.
In September, Masood again combined pressure with an assertion of Congress' importance.
"If an alliance is to be formed, it should be finalised; otherwise, we must proceed with our own preparations. The political climate, not just here, but across the entire country, is such that one cannot move forward without the Congress; the Congress is essential. A fight against the BJP can only be waged with the Congress; only the Congress can take them on," he said.
He also rejected the suggestion that Congress was seeking an alliance from a position of weakness.
"Don't form an alliance. Who is asking for it? Are we begging anyone? Let everyone do what they want. When a wedding procession sets out, there are many drummers, as well as people who dance and sing. Let these people dance and sing. We are focussed on our work," he said.
SP Pushback
The SP was quick to respond. Akhilesh Yadav has led the party's response and made clear that winnability would be the key test in seat-sharing. Responding to Masood's remarks earlier, he said, "I have nothing to do with the statement given by anyone. Our INDIA alliance is intact. Those who want to leave the INDIA alliance can go."
Reports that Congress was seeking around 150 seats added to the strain.
SP MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel argued that Congress should seek seats in line with its electoral strength and organisational presence in Uttar Pradesh.
"I think if they are given 50 seats, they should look at their actual position and status before seeking anything more than 50 seats. They should look at their past record. I understand that in Uttar Pradesh, there is no mandate for Congress. If they fight with us, they will benefit. They have only two MLAs in the state. If they fight together, they will benefit," Patel said.
His remarks came a day after Congress' Uttar Pradesh in-charge, Rajendra Pal Gautam, once again called for "equal share and equal respect" for the party in the state.
The dispute has gone beyond seat arithmetic. Masood and SP leaders have also traded barbs over whether Rahul Gandhi or Akhilesh Yadav is better placed to lead the fight against the BJP. Congress' decision to give Masood a prominent organisational role could therefore be seen as an attempt to keep pressure on the SP during negotiations.
Another SP leader has urged restraint in public.
Dharmendra Yadav asked Congress leaders not to argue over seat-sharing through the media and instead take their case directly to Akhilesh Yadav.
"I would tell my Congress colleagues, wherever they can win, they should not keep that point in front of the media. There is no need to keep it in the media. If they present it in the right way before our leader, then the entire country knows about our leader; he is a very large-hearted leader. But I would tell my Congress colleagues to stop making statements in the media," he said.
Masood's Political Path
Masood's political importance is particularly pronounced in western Uttar Pradesh. He is a first-time MP and one of the better-known political faces in the region. His local profile gives him weight in any discussion on how Congress should rebuild in western UP and how aggressively it should negotiate with the SP.
His recent political journey has been restless. Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Masood left Congress and joined the SP. He quit the SP in October 2022 and moved to the BSP, where Mayawati appointed him coordinator for western Uttar Pradesh.
That stint also ended quickly. In August 2023, Mayawati expelled Masood from the BSP, accusing him of indiscipline and "anti-party activities". He returned to Congress later that year and has now been elevated as the party seeks to redraw its strategy in Uttar Pradesh.
Alliance Arithmetic
The numbers remain central to the fight. The Congress-SP alliance won 43 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 general election, while the BJP won 33. The SP won 37 seats, including Faizabad, the Lok Sabha constituency that includes Ayodhya. Congress won six, including Saharanpur, from where Masood was elected.
The SP wants that result to shape the 2027 talks and says winnability should be the sole criterion. Congress is pushing for a larger share, with its leaders arguing that the SP's stronger 2024 performance also benefited from the alliance.
Congress leaders also point to the SP's performance in 2014 and 2019, when it won only five Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh on each occasion.
Despite the public sparring, both parties know the alliance has electoral value in taking on the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav have maintained their bonhomie despite sharper exchanges between state-level leaders.
Akhilesh Skips INDIA Bloc Meet
Akhilesh Yadav, who is protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on Tuesday, had skipped the INDIA bloc meeting on September 30, citing his engagement with the Rajya Sabha elections.
Party insiders, however, told India Today that Yadav also wanted to avoid a face-to-face meeting with the Congress' top leadership. If Yadav, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were seen together, the focus could have quickly shifted to the ongoing SP-Congress tussle over seat-sharing, the report said.
The episode underlined the unease within the alliance even as both parties continue to maintain publicly that the INDIA bloc remains intact.
Recently when asked about seat-sharing, SP spokesperson Rajkumar Bhati said the decision on behalf of the Samajwadi Party would be taken by Akhilesh Yadav, while Congress' position would be determined by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.
"From our side, the decision will be taken by Akhilesh Yadav, and from theirs, it will rely on Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Other than these three, no one's statement matters," Bhati stated.
For now, the alliance remains intact. But with Congress signalling a more assertive approach and the SP insisting on winnability, the battle over seat-sharing is likely to remain one of the biggest tests for the Opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2027.
