UP Election: 150-seat demand, SP talks and Gyanesh Kumar fight – Congress poll strategy for 2027 election

The Congress party is stepping up preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with the party saying seat-sharing with its alliance partners is likely to be finalised next month and that it will seek at least 150 seats under the alliance arrangement.

The preparations come amid an intensifying confrontation between the Congress and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the revision of electoral rolls, with the party mounting protests against the poll panel and making electoral transparency a central political issue ahead of the election in one of India's biggest politically significant states.

With Uttar Pradesh among the key states heading to the polls in 2027, Congress has sought to turn questions about electoral roll revisions into a broader issue of voter rights and election transparency.

What happened in 2022 UP Assembly Election?

The 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections were conducted in seven phases from 10 February to 7 March 2022. The results were declared on 10 March 2022.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a historic victory, marking the first time since 1985 that an incumbent government completed a full five-year term and returned to power with a full majority. As a result, Yogi Adityanath took the oath of office as Chief Minister for a consecutive second term.

The BJP won 255 seats in the 403-member UP assembly. The Samajwadi Party won 111 seats, and the Congress won two seats.

At the Congress Working Committee meeting in the national capital on Tuesday, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said that with elections in five states in 2027, it is essential to ensure that no voter's right is violated. The Congress President said that the party must ensure that every person's vote is secure, elections are fair, so that the common people's trust in India's election process remains intact.

Protests against CEC

On Monday, Congress workers held a nationwide protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The protest was also held in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are scheduled next year.

Two Congress leaders were arrested on Monday for allegedly defacing the wall and the main gate of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's home in Agra with the words "Gyanesh Gaddar, Gyanesh Chor" (Gyanesh traitor, Gyanesh thief), police said.

The protesters, including Congress workers and affiliated organisations, arrived in large numbers in the morning, and also put up stickers and pasted pamphlets outside his residence.

The protesters used spray paint to write "Gyanesh Gaddar Gyanesh Chor" on the main gate and the wall of the house.

The protests come in the wake of The Indian Express report that questions were repeatedly raised on issues related to the SIR of electoral rolls within the three-member Election Commission (EC) by two of the three commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai said, “Our protest against Gyanesh Kumar is happening countrywide. People in every corner of Uttar Pradesh have definitely woken up to the fact that such corrupt people are conducting elections."

SP-Congress alliance

At the same time, Congress faces the more immediate organisational challenge of working out its electoral arrangement with the Samajwadi Party, its key INDIA bloc partner in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress and SP fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election together, while seat-sharing for 2027 remains unresolved.

Congress has candidates available to contest all 403 Assembly seats in the State. The party would not contest fewer than 150 seats under the alliance arrangement, the state incharge Rajendra Pal Gautam emphasised.

“Seat-sharing will likely be finalised in the month of October. Congress has candidates available to contest all 403 seats. Under the alliance, the Congress party is entitled to get 50 per cent of the seats. Congress will not contest fewer than 150 seats,” Gautam said.

“For the last two months, Congress has been working on seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal and I (Rajendra Pal Gautam) are looking after this work,” he added.

The Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) are key constituents of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh. The two parties had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state as alliance partners.

Revamping its state unit

Earlier this month, Congress intensified efforts to revamp its state unit, with new office-bearers likely to be appointed at all organisational levels later this month.

AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal held deliberations on in first week of September with state in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam, state Congress chief Ajay Rai, Congress Legislature Party leader in UP assembly Aradhana Mishra 'Mona', and co-in-charge secretaries regarding organisational changes and the appointment of new district presidents.

He said that in view of the 2027 assembly elections, the Congress is preparing for sweeping changes to further strengthen the opposition in Uttar Pradesh.

"In the run up to the upcoming Assembly Elections, we are gearing up to revamp our organisation to further consolidate the Opposition's position in UP. As was seen in 2024, the people of UP have decided to throw out the BJP and the Congress will play a critical role in ensuring their defeat," he said in his post.

Party sources told news agencies that appointments of new district presidents could be announced soon, and changes to the State Congress Committee organisation are also likely. The appointments at other levels of the state unit will follow the selection of new district Congress committee presidents.

There were reports that the Congress party is grappling with an internal rift in Uttar Pradesh. The developments come after the party faced a similar internal feud in Punjab, which is also due to go to the polls next year.

The differences have emerged between Rai and All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam.

Amid the rift reports, there was a growing speculation that Ajay Rai, could be replaced in the next couple of days. Rai could be replaced by MLA Aradhana Mishra Mona, who is a senior Congress leader and the daughter of party MP Pramod Tiwari, according to a report in Indian Express.

Rai is reportedly unhappy with Gautam’s style of functioning. Many have accused the former Delhi Minister and now AICC in-charge of trying to operate like the state president. There have been several instances of Rai and Gautam avoiding each other at party programmes.

(With agency inputs)