Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that the party plans to enter the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with largely the same allies it has worked with in recent elections.
He said the alliance details would be announced soon. There are reports of differences over the number of seats each party wants to contest. He also responded to reports that BJP MLAs were in touch with the SP ahead of the election. The SP chief did not give details about the legislators he referred to or say how many could join the party.
Their talks for the next Assembly election have therefore become an important part of the Opposition’s preparations in the state. The SP and Congress are negotiating seat-sharing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The SP and the Congress had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state together as part of the INDIA bloc. The INDIA bloc meeting on September 30 discussed the Opposition’s demands over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR process.
The INDIA bloc has also announced a series of protests. The Opposition parties also demanded the use of pre-SIR electoral rolls for future elections, ballot papers instead of EVMs and an appeals mechanism for people excluded from voter lists. The bloc also plans to meet the president in the second week of October.
Opposition MPs are scheduled to march to the Election Commission headquarters on October 6. A major rally has been announced in Delhi for November 1.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said after the meeting that the bloc wanted the immediate removal of Kumar. He accused Kumar of rigging elections and “handing states on a platter to the BJP”. Venugopal said “Save Democracy” marches would be held in districts from October 2 to 8.
