by Ajay Kumar
Lucknow: Congress’s perspective on the alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) is changing. Now, Congress and Rahul Gandhi are not giving SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, the importance they did during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The behavior of both parties towards each other, following their collaboration in the 2017 UP Assembly and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, indicates that the alliance might soon come to an end. Recently, the growing distance between Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati has left Yadav feeling isolated. If the SP does not perform well in the upcoming by-elections for ten Assembly seats in UP, it will struggle to maintain its credibility moving forward. Moreover, Mayawati’s announcement of fielding candidates in the by-elections has only added to Akhilesh’s concerns.
Discussing the widening gap between Congress and SP, Rahul Gandhi has recently emerged as a more mature leader. He has set clear goals and is moving forward accordingly. He has been vocal about caste-based census and appealing to Muslim voters while not shying away from criticizing Hindus, which seems to have benefitted him in the Haryana and Maharashtra elections.
On the other hand, in both Madhya Pradesh and now Haryana, Congress has conveyed that the SP does not hold any significance for them outside Uttar Pradesh by not giving them a single seat. Similar trends are seen in Maharashtra, where the SP’s attempts to strengthen its position with Congress’s support seem to be faltering. Meanwhile, the SP’s Maharashtra unit has already finalized candidates for twelve seats. In UP, SP leader Mata Prasad Pandey, along with other legislators, has been appointed to key positions. Overall, Akhilesh Yadav’s ambitions to strengthen his party’s foothold in other states are consistently being undermined by Congress. Maharashtra has become a new part of this narrative.
If we talk about the SP’s options, they currently only have the chance to respond to Congress in the upcoming by-elections for the ten Assembly seats in UP, where their position is significantly stronger than that of Congress.
In fact, after winning 37 seats in the Lok Sabha elections from UP, the SP wants to gain national recognition by winning in other states as well. However, the SP’s organization is not as strong outside Uttar Pradesh, leading them to frequently seek elections in collaboration with Congress. Initially, the SP wanted to ally with Congress for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. However, after Congress refused to form an alliance, the SP fielded 22 candidates on its own but did not manage to win any seats, though Congress suffered losses in some.
Similarly, the SP sought to collaborate with Congress for twelve Assembly seats in Haryana, which have significant Muslim and Yadav populations. The discussions narrowed down to five and then three seats. However, when Congress released its list, they did not reserve a single seat for the SP. Nevertheless, Akhilesh Yadav indicated a willingness to prioritize the collective goal of winning over individual seat claims by stating, “It’s not about the seat, but about winning.” The SP’s Haryana president, Surendra Singh Bhati, mentioned that the national leadership of Congress had communicated with Akhilesh about three seats, but Congress ultimately backed out. Additionally, in Jammu and Kashmir, the SP has already announced its candidates due to the lack of an alliance with Congress, positioning themselves as direct competitors. Akhilesh is also preparing to campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, where he hopes to attract Muslim votes similar to UP.
