Akhilesh Yadav Sets ‘Winnability’ Test For SP-Congress Seats In 2027 UP Assembly Polls

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said the party’s alliance with the Congress will continue for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, but made clear that the seat-sharing arrangement will be decided by the ability to win individual constituencies rather than a predetermined division of seats.

Yadav made the remarks while launching the SP’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly election campaign from Raebareli on Thursday, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress leader and alliance partner Rahul Gandhi. Addressing supporters during his PDA Rath Yatra, he said the alliance would continue but that the parties would have to negotiate over seats based on their chances of winning them.

According to Indian Express, Yadav said, “Gathbandhan bhi hoga, gathbandhan ke saath challenge bhi… Baat humare liye seat ki nahi hogi, jeetne wali seat ki hogi. Jo jite who seat le le. (“There will be an alliance, and there will also be challenges with it. For us, it will not be about seats but about winnability — whoever can win a seat should get it).”

“Whoever can win a seat should get that seat,” he asserted. “We defeated them in 2024 and in 2027 we will work for their (BJP) permanent defeat,” the former chief minister added.

The Congress and SP had joined hands for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh after contesting separately in the 2022 Assembly polls. The alliance performed substantially better in the 2024 Lok Sabha election than the two parties had in the 2022 Assembly polls.

Akhilesh expands SP’s PDA formulation ahead of 2027

Alongside the question of seat-sharing, Yadav used his Raebareli address to set out the social and political framework for the SP’s 2027 Assembly election campaign.

The SP uses PDA to refer to pichhda (backward communities), Dalits and alpasankhyak (minorities). Yadav sought to broaden the grouping by including women, while explaining the wider meaning he attaches to the term alpasankhyak.

“A in alpasankhyak is — a Muslim, Parsi, Buddhist, Sikh, aur aadhi abaadi bhi hai.”

Yadav referred to an alleged incident in Ghazipur involving a Vishwakarma family and another involving a Bind youth. He said the SP would work to ensure justice for members of these communities as well as Vishwakarmas, Lodhs and Pasis.

He alleged that members of communities identified with the PDA were being selectively targeted through administrative action, including the use of bulldozers, while people belonging to communities associated with the ruling establishment were being treated differently.

Indian Express reported that Yadav said the PDA electorate had become conscious of its political strength and described the struggle against inequality as continuing.

“The line is absolutely clear this time,” he said.

Yadav also attacked what he called “bulldozer politics”, saying those pursuing it would not be able to escape the PDA movement. He asserted that the 2027 electoral verdict would not merely defeat such politics but would “demolish” and permanently eliminate what he described as negative politics.

He linked the 2027 election to the SP’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, saying the party had defeated the BJP in 2024 and would work towards its “safaya” in 2027.

Raebareli emerges as a point of contest within alliance

Yadav also invoked the PDA Rath as a political symbol, comparing the chariot with the battlefield of Kurukshetra and referring to the Mahabharata and Lord Krishna’s teachings in the Bhagavad Gita.

He criticised the BJP over alleged demolition of religious structures in Kashi and Saharanpur, accusing the party of pursuing communal politics and attempting to weaken social harmony.

His remarks also touched on the political contest in Raebareli, where he referred to the September 17 incident involving SP supporters and BJP-linked workers.

“It used to be said that in Raebareli the contest is between the PDA and BJP, but has it become Lodh versus (CM) Yogi (Adiyanath),” he asked.

Yadav referred to students who, according to him, had confronted people associated with the BJP during the recent incident. He congratulated the students and accused the BJP of resorting to what he called “negative politics”.

“While we do positive politics, BJP does negative politics,” he said, alleging that the government uses the administration when it begins to lose political ground.

Earlier in the day, SP MLA from the Bachhrawan Assembly constituency Shyam Sundar Bharti sought to reject the description of Raebareli as a “Congress bastion” and asserted the SP’s claim over the district.

“Congress bastion, what Congress bastion? In 2022, we won four seats. So in the Assembly election, this is just a Samajwadi Party bastion and no one else,” Bharti said.

He said the SP had lost two seats by narrow margins in the 2022 Assembly election and claimed that, had those margins gone in the party’s favour, the SP would have won all six Assembly seats in the district.

Yadav alleges ‘vote theft’ in 2022 Assembly polls

Yadav also accused the Election Commission of facilitating what he described as the “vote theft” of the PDA bloc during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

He alleged that the Election Commission had lost the confidence of the people and claimed that, had the alleged “vote theft” not taken place, the SP would have formed the government in Uttar Pradesh.

“The Election Commission has been exposed and has worked like a puppet. Such a low level of work may never have happened in a democracy. Now, there is no trust in the Election Commission,” Akhilesh said.

Indian Express reported that Yadav also alleged that the BJP was using the election machinery because it knew voters would not support it on issues such as inflation.

SP links UCC debate to equality and reservation

Yadav also addressed the proposed Uniform Civil Code, saying efforts to ensure equality among citizens should precede the introduction of such a law.

He said PDA members were fighting to “save the Constitution, democracy and reservation” and alleged that the BJP did not believe in the Constitution.

“We say first make the citizens equal; first, let all of us become one. When everyone’s respect becomes equal, then bring laws to increase that respect and take people forward,” he said.

The SP chief also accused the state government of shutting primary schools while opening liquor shops. He said schools that had been closed would be reopened under an SP government.