Lucknow: Swami Prasad Maurya has moved his Apni Janta Party into the INDIA bloc ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. He said his party will contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2027 as part of the Opposition alliance and backed the Congress leader as the face he sees for the country’s top political post.
His party’s formal entry into the INDIA bloc was announced after the meeting with the Congress leader. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are still working out the terms of their alliance for the Uttar Pradesh election. He has also ruled out any merger with the Congress. He also described Rahul as the leader who could provide that alternative. He has sought to draw a line between joining the INDIA bloc and merging his party with the Congress. His Apni Janta Party will continue to exist as a separate political organisation. The question of how many seats it will contest under the alliance will be discussed later. The Congress is seeking a larger role in Uttar Pradesh. Maurya has avoided giving his own assessment of the Congress seat demand. He argued that the government and its leader should be decided after the election through the public mandate.
His stated aim is to work with parties that share his political position and take on the BJP in the 2027 election. Reports have put its demand at more than 150 seats, while the SP has been preparing its own election strategy. Akhilesh Yadav has said that the alliance that defeated the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state will continue for the 2027 Assembly polls. The SP and the Congress won 37 and six seats respectively in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, taking the INDIA bloc’s total in the state to 43 of 80 seats.
Maurya will enter the INDIA bloc with his own party, which he said would continue to function independently. The former SP leader, who was earlier associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), said his meeting with Rahul was the beginning of the process. He said talks on seat-sharing and the election strategy would take place later. Maurya has said that the national political alternative should be built around Congress and Rahul. He said the issue should be settled by all parties sitting together once his party formally becomes part of the alliance. Asked about Akhilesh being projected as the INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial face, he said that the final decision belonged to voters.
He has also rejected the idea of deciding the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister before the election.
