Priyanka Gandhi At The Wheel As Congress Prepares For UP Alliance Talks

Priyanka Gandhi At The Wheel As Congress Prepares For UP Alliance Talks.  Priyanka Gandhi has held meeting with UP Congress leaders on alliance with SPAI Generated

With an objective of initiating negotiations with the SP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday held a three-hour-long meeting with UP Congress leaders regarding seat allocation. Approximately 175 seats were discussed in the meeting.

The Congress has prepared a list comprising roughly 100 'Category A' seats, 40-50 'Category B' seats, and 25-35 'Category C' seats.

Another meeting between Priyanka Gandhi and UP Congress leaders is scheduled for this week, following which the Congress may present a list of about 125 to 150 seats to the Samajwadi Party.

The objective, party insiders told to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement by November.

Priyanka Gandhi will play a pivotal role in the seat-sharing negotiations with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. She had also led the party's unsuccessful campaign in the 2022 polls when the Congress fought the elections alone and could manage to win only two seats.

This time the Congress is formulating its list based on data from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2017 Assembly elections. The party's aim is to contest at least one Assembly seat within every Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which it fought in alliance with the SP, the party saw a surprising upswing in its fortunes, winning six of 17 seats it contested. 

The Congress led in 38 Assembly segments and stood second in 42 others in the 2024 polls. All these 80 seats have been included in the party's wishlist.

Additionally, the list features seats associated with prominent party leaders such as Ajay Rai, Ajay Lallu, Supriya Shrinate, and Nadeem Javed.

The Congress also intends to stake a claim to seats in Amethi, Raebareli, and Saharanpur that are currently held by Samajwadi Party MLAs. The party is also eyeing about a dozen seats that were won by the Samajwadi Party, the publication has leant.

While Amethi and Rae Bareli seats are seen as the party's strongholds owing to representation by members of the first family in the Lok Sabha, the Assembly performance of the party has been dismal in these seats.

Of the five Assembly segments in the Amethi seat, Congress failed to win any in 2022. Three were won by the BJP, one by SP and one by a BJP-supported independent.

Similarly, in the five Assembly segments of Rae Bareli, SP won four and BJP one in 2022, while Congress drew a blank.

While both parties appear positive on the need for an alliance, it has been learnt that Akhilesh Yadav's party is not keen on sparing more than 60-65 seats for the Congress, with Yadav repeatedly emphasising "winnability" as the criteria for seat allocation.

Yadav, on his part, has already started finalising candidates on a number of seats as he eyes contesting on around 350 of the 403 seats in the state.

Congress UP in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam has repeatedly insisted that the party deserves no less than 150 seats as part of the alliance.

The Congress recently rejigged its state organisation, which also hinted at its willingness to accommodate SP's concerns. It appointed Aradhana Misra as the new chief of its state unit, while MP Imran Masood has been made working president.

Aradhana, a three-term MLA, replaced Ajay Rai as she enjoys a good rapport with Akhilesh Yadav, while Lok Sabha member Masood was deployed in the poll-bound state to send a message to the nearly 18 percent Muslim voters.