New Delhi: Humbled by its defeat in the Haryana elections, the Congress has decided to sit out the Uttar Pradesh assembly bypolls, setting up a bipolar contest between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Formally, the Congress attributed the decision to the need to send out a message of opposition unity against “forces of hatred and division,” even as leaders of its UP unit privately conceded that the party lacked bargaining power to get suitable seats to contest.
On Thursday, Congress general secretary in-charge of UP Avinash Pande and its state unit chief Ajay Rai announced the decision at a press conference in New Delhi, a day after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav posted on X that all nine candidates will contest on the symbol of SP.
At the press conference, Pande prefaced the announcement with long opening remarks which saw him at pains to establish that the decision was not a sign of its weakness, but a large-hearted move for the sake of strengthening the opposition’s fight against the BJP.
Pande and Rai echoed Yadav, stating that “baat seat ki nahi, jeet ki hai” (it is not about seats, but about winning). Congress leaders dismissed suggestions that the decision amounted to “surrendering” to its ally SP.
Bypolls are to be held in nine assembly seats in UP—Mirapur, Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal, Ghaziabad, Kundarki, Majhawan, Khair and Phulpur—on 13 November.
“The question is not to advance interests of a party but the need is to save the Constitution and safeguard communal harmony. Keeping these objectives in mind, a decision has been taken not to field candidates in the bypolls. And every attempt to ensure the victory of the INDIA bloc candidates. We realised if we don’t prevent BJP’s victory, social harmony will be jeopardised,” Pande said at the press conference Thursday.
However, its inability to win Haryana acted as a dampener for the Congress in the seat-sharing talks. This became evident when the SP declared candidates in six of the nine seats within a day of the declaration of Haryana poll results on 8 October.
Congress leaders had at the time expressed surprise over the SP’s decision and termed it as “unilateral”, but the two parties continued to hold parleys, with the Congress demanding four seats, namely Meerapur, Khair, Phulpur and Majhawan.
In the 2022 assembly polls, Khair and Phulpur were won by the BJP, while Meerapur was won by the RLD, then an ally of the SP, and Majhawan by BJP ally NISHAD party.
The SP, in turn, agreed to give Khair and Ghaziabad to the Congress, which turned down the offer and demanded Meerapur instead. The SP was inclined to give Phulpur to the Congress but said no to the demand for Meerapur, leading to the eventual decision that it would go solo.
On Wednesday evening, before Yadav went public with the decision, he had a telephonic conversation with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, sources said.
The Congress also felt that by climbing down in UP, it could get the SP to give up its demand for seats in Maharashtra where polling is due on 20 November.
A section of the party also claimed that the decision may also help the SP realise the importance of having Congress as an electoral ally.
“Now we have given a free hand to the SP in UP. This decision was tough but necessary. If Muslim and Dalits votes do not consolidate in the bypolls like they did during the Lok Sabha elections, it may hurt the SP,” said a senior Congress leader who did not wish to be named.
In the 2022 assembly polls, the BJP had registered a second straight victory in UP, securing 255 seats, while the SP finished second with 111. In the 2024 general elections, however, the SP bagged as many as 37 seats, and the Congress six, while the BJP’s tally dropped to 33 seats from 62 in the previous general election.
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