LUCKNOW: Political activity is gathering pace in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly elections due early next year.
While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has launched a door to door outreach campaign, discussions around a possible seat sharing arrangement between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its INDIA bloc ally, the Congress, are gaining traction in political circles. However, neither party has officially confirmed any such talks.
According to highly placed sources, the Congress is reportedly seeking around 120 seats, while the SP is preparing a formula to allocate between 60 and 80 seats to its ally.
Sources said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has entrusted party MLAs and district presidents with assessing the party's strength across constituencies to help finalise a list of 60 to 80 seats that could be offered to the Congress as part of a seat sharing arrangement.
Meanwhile, the SP has already begun surveying potential candidates ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The strength of ticket aspirants at the grassroots level is being assessed through surveys conducted by private agencies, alongside feedback from local party leaders.
Party sources said Akhilesh Yadav is personally monitoring the exercise. It is believed that candidate selection this time will be based primarily on survey findings rather than recommendations.
The party intends to field candidates who have strong public support in their constituencies, enjoy a positive reputation and are considered capable of winning.
Sources claimed that retired IAS officer and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan is leading the survey team. He has allegedly suggested in his report that between 70 and 75 seats could be allocated to the Congress.
At the same time, Akhilesh Yadav is asking party workers and office bearers to remind voters of the work carried out during previous SP governments.
According to sources, an office has been set up in the Gomti Nagar locality, where a team led by Alok Ranjan is working to identify potential winning candidates. The team reportedly includes a professor from the Economics Department of Lucknow University, two research scholars and support staff.
The report prepared by the survey team will be presented before the party's core committee. Only after its review will a decision be taken on candidates for individual constituencies.
Party sources claimed that the survey team found the SP's performance to have been weak in about 71 constituencies during the 2022 Assembly elections.
Following the 2022 poll results, several SP leaders acknowledged shortcomings in ticket distribution. The decision to grant tickets to leaders who had recently joined from the BJP and other parties allegedly caused resentment among long serving party workers.
There were also allegations that ticket allocation was influenced by lobbying from district presidents and senior leaders, with insufficient emphasis placed on ground realities and survey findings. In several constituencies, candidates considered capable of winning were allegedly overlooked because of factional rivalries.
The party's internal review reportedly found that many seats were lost by narrow margins because candidates lacked sufficient popularity at the local level and because booth management was weak.
