- Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi met for nearly an hour during parliament's monsoon session
- They discussed Uttar Pradesh assembly seat-sharing and issues like theft at Ayodhya's Ram Temple
- Congress demands 200 seats, but actual target is around 100, mainly in strong electoral areas
On the first day of parliament's monsoon session, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav held a conversation lasting nearly an hour. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi was also present during this meeting, which took place in the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
While no official details regarding the meeting have been released, it is believed that the top leadership of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party discussed issues ranging from seat-sharing for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election to the theft of offerings at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had previously met during the Opposition INDIA bloc meeting on June 8, but they had not held any separate discussion at that time.
To queries about today's meeting, Akhilesh Yadav said, "People naturally meet when the house is adjourned." In fact, proceedings in both houses had stalled due to the Opposition's uproar over issues such as paper leaks and the theft of temple offerings.
Notably, after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the first time, most Samajwadi Party MPs including Dimple Yadav left for Jantar Mantar; however, Akhilesh Yadav, accompanied by some MPs, went to Rahul Gandhi's room within the parliament complex. Awadhesh Prasad, the Samajwadi Party MP from Ayodhya, accompanied Akhilesh Yadav but did not participate in the main meeting. Only Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi were present at the meeting itself.
Awadhesh Prasad later said many matters are part of a strategy and it is not appropriate to disclose them.
The meeting also takes place at a time when Rajendra Pal Gautam, the UP Congress in-charge, recently started demanding an equal share of seats, specifically 200 out of 403, in the alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Congress MP Imran Masood had recently accused Akhilesh Yadav of ignoring issues concerning Muslims. Samajwadi Party spokespersons have been hitting back at such statements made by Gautam and Masood.
Following this meeting, Masood's tone appeared to have changed. "Akhilesh Yadav is a prominent leader. When senior leaders sit down together, solutions will emerge. That is exactly what I have been urging, that we sit and talk. It is not good to keep deferring matters. I am a foot soldier for Rahul Gandhi. The world runs on hope, and we expect to secure seats based on that hope."
Although the Congress may be staking a claim to 200 seats, sources indicate they are actually eyeing around 100. The Congress wants the Samajwadi Party to allocate a larger share of these seats in areas where the alliance's electoral arithmetic is strong. The Congress argues that securing more seats would boost Dalit voters' confidence in the Samajwadi Party.
Dalit votes were considered a major factor behind the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance winning 43 out of 80 seats in UP during the previous Lok Sabha elections; the Samajwadi Party won 37 seats and the Congress won the rest. Keeping this in mind, the Congress has appointed a leader from the Dalit community as its in-charge for UP.
The Samajwadi Party holds a different perspective regarding seat-sharing within the alliance. Akhilesh Yadav has already stated that winning the seat is what matters most. According to a source, Akhilesh Yadav wants the Congress to provide a list of potential candidates alongside their claims for specific seats; this would allow for an assessment of whether a Congress candidate is indeed the best choice for a particular seat or if someone else would be preferable. He remarked that this election is crucial. Voters seeking change are aware of the alternatives, but winning an election requires strong grassroots workers capable of fighting at the booth level - and the Congress lacks such spirited workers.
The Congress contested the 2017 assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, which had allocated 105 seats to the Congress at the time. Based on that precedent, the Congress is hoping for more than 100 seats this time as well.
However, Samajwadi Party sources said circumstances have changed significantly since then. At that time, Akhilesh Yadav was grappling with the displeasure of his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his uncle, Shivpal Yadav; Shivpal had even formed a separate party.
Under those specific conditions, the Congress managed to secure over 100 seats, but replicating that scenario now would be difficult. Overall, based on the Samajwadi Party's calculations, the Congress appears likely to secure only around 80 seats.
The Congress has no other option. In the previous assembly elections, when the party contested alone under the charge of Priyanka Gandhi, it garnered merely 2 per cent of the vote and won just two seats. However, it remains difficult to say whether the Congress will agree to contest fewer than a hundred seats. The Congress believes that even Akhilesh Yadav cannot become chief minister on his own strength; consequently, he will need to adopt a flexible approach regarding seat-sharing.
Akhilesh Yadav faces the challenge of preventing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from securing a hat-trick of election victories. For this, seat-sharing with the Congress is crucial.
