UP bypolls 2024: Congress-SP talks in limbo over 3 assembly seats; INDIA allies eye Dalit, minority vote

Despite the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) winning 43 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the SP for the upcoming bypolls in Uttar Pradesh seem to be in a lurch.

The seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties is in a pickle over 3 assembly seats up for bypolls -- Meerapur in western UP as well as Phulpur and Majhawan in the eastern part of the country's most populous state, The Indian Express reported citing sources. 

While the Congress has begun preparing for all 10 seats, it is not pushing hard on the seats that the Samajwadi Party won in 2022. These are Karhal, Kundarki, Katheri, Milkipur and Sisamau. The SP, on the other hand, is willing to give Ghaziabad and Khair to the Congress, as per sources. 

Of the 10 seats going to bypolls, the Samajwadi Party won 5, and the Bharatiya Janata Party 3. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and NISHAD Party won one seat each in 2022. The friction between the INDIA partners over the three UP assembly seats can be attributed to both of them vying for the minority and Dalit vote in the state.

A Congress leader told the publication that Meerapur seat has a significant population of minorities as well as Dalits. He said that winning the bypoll here would prove advantageous for any party in the 2027 assembly elections.

Bypoll in Meerapur is being conducted after sitting RLD MLA Chandan Chauhan won from the Bijnor Lok Sabha seat, which has a significant minority and Dalit population.

Meanwhile, a district-level SP leader said that the party has constituted booth-level committees in areas where it didn't perform well in Lok Sabha elections. 

He said: "We are ready to announce candidates as soon as the dates of the bypolls are declared. Also, Chauhan won the seat in 2022 while in alliance with the SP, which helped him consolidate minority and Jat votes in his favour. In effect, he won due to the SP's backing."

In Phulpur, bypoll is taking place because BJP MLA Praveen Singh Patel won the recent Lok Sabha polls. SP leaders have cited the party's performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections to stake claim whereas the Congress is aiming to revive its voter base here.

Talking of SP's performance, the regional party gave Patel a tough fight in 2017 and 2022 assembly elections as its candidate lost by a margin of 2,700 votes in 2022. 

A Samajwadi Party leader accused the Congress of being "ambitious", while adding that any call on the alliance will be taken by the national leadership of the two parties. Congress, on the other hand, believes that the minority communities are strongly backing it. 

The grand old party also believes that it has a brighter chance at bagging Phulpur in the bypolls when compared to the Akhilesh Yadav-led regional satrap. Majhawan is a seat with significant Dalit population, where both the Congress and the SP are aiming to capture the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) vote bank. 

The Samajwadi Party (SP) is confident about winning the Majhawan seat, citing former MLA Ramesh Chand Bind's induction as a key factor. Meanwhile, the Congress believes it has strong support from the Dalit vote bank and a good chance of winning, as the electorate is made up of significant numbers of Dalits, Brahmins, and Binds, each numbering around 50,000.