NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dharmendra Yadav on Monday urged Congress leaders to refrain from making public statements on seat-sharing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and instead raise the issue directly with SP president Akhilesh Yadav.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 grand old party in the state.Dharmendra Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin, described the former chief minister as a “very large-hearted leader.”“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,” the Azamgarh MP told ANI.Also Read | Akhilesh Yadav asks SP leaders to keep seat-sharing concerns internal amid friction with CongressAsked about Congress’ demand for an equal share of seats, Dharmendra Yadav replied that the decision rested with the SP’s top leadership.“We don’t have any confusion. National president Akhilesh Yadav has the full trust of every leader, every worker, every voter of the Samajwadi Party. Every single person in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party knows that whatever decision respected Akhilesh Yadav ji takes, it will definitely be for the better, not just for the party, but for the entire Uttar Pradesh and the country. That is why we are not getting stuck in these discussions. This work has been taken up by the people of Congress,” he added.Uttar Pradesh will hold assembly polls in February-March 2027, with the ruling BJP and the SP expected to be the principal contenders.In 2022, the BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh, winning 255 of the state’s 403 constituencies with a 41.29% vote share. The SP finished second with 111 seats and a 32.06% vote share, up from 47 seats in 2017, when it contested the election in alliance with the Congress and was voted out of power. The BJP had won 312 seats that year. The Congress secured just seven seats in 2017, a tally that fell to just two when it contested the 2022 election on its own.However, the SP-Congress alliance won 43 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in 2024, with the SP winning 37 seats and the Congress six. The BJP won 33 constituencies, down from 62 in 2019.
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Congress demands 200 seats
Meanwhile, Rajendra Pal Gautam told ANI that the Congress was seeking at least 200 seats from the SP to contest in next year’s assembly election.“Who asked for 150 seats? I had actually spoken about 200. I have maintained from the very beginning that there must be equal respect and an equal share. After all, the Congress party is the country’s oldest and largest party,” Gautam said, referring to an earlier statement.“We can only win if we get seats. We can only win if we contest the election. Does anyone ever win without fighting elections?” Gautam added, saying the Congress was strengthening its organisation across all 403 constituencies and wanted seat-sharing finalised in October to give candidates enough time to prepare.“In Uttar Pradesh, the two main parties are Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Both are responsible; they also respect each other. We have to move forward together. The share and respect should be equal,” he added.