Samajwadi Party MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel has stepped up criticism of the Congress ahead of seat-sharing talks for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, claiming that the grand old party would have failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat in the state in 2024 without the SP alliance.
Patel, who represents Pratapgarh in the Lok Sabha, also claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was initially reluctant to contest the Raebareli constituency in the 2024 general election and agreed to enter the fray only after SP president Akhilesh Yadav reassured and persuaded him to do so.
His remarks come amid growing differences between the two INDIA bloc allies over the number of seats Congress should contest in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Congress has indicated that it wants to contest at least 150 seats, while Patel has argued that even 50 would be excessive.
Patel credits SP alliance for Congress's 2024 wins
Speaking to PTI Videos, Patel said Congress owed its six Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha victories in 2024 to the alliance with the SP.
"Had there been no alliance (with the Samajwadi Party), they (Congress) wouldn't have won a single seat," he said.
Patel claimed that SP voters transferred their support to Congress candidates in constituencies allotted to the party under the alliance.
"Every single vote from the Samajwadi Party went to the Congress wherever they were allotted seats. That is precisely how they managed to win those six seats," he said.
The SP won 37 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 election, including Faizabad, the constituency that includes the temple town of Ayodhya. Congress won six seats, while the BJP was reduced to 33 and the National Democratic Alliance secured 36 seats in the state.
Patel said the SP was therefore "far ahead" of Congress and argued that the latter should not seek more than 50 Assembly seats.
"We secured 37 seats. We are far ahead of the Congress in every respect. They shouldn't ask for more than 50, and should feel happy," he said, urging Congress to cooperate rather than make what he described as "absurd or negative remarks".
'Rahul Gandhi was ready to give up' Raebareli
Patel also made a claim about Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest Raebareli rather than Amethi in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
According to the SP MP, Gandhi was at one point "ready to give up" his seat and was reluctant to contest Raebareli, a constituency historically associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Patel claimed that Akhilesh Yadav persuaded Gandhi to contest and warned that the SP would field its own candidate if he did not.
"It was our national president who reassured and persuaded him, asking him to contest and warning that if he didn't, he (Akhilesh) would field his own candidate," Patel said.
He claimed Gandhi subsequently agreed to contest Raebareli and won the seat.
Patel's account is his own claim and has not been independently established. Reports on his remarks have also noted that the allegation about Gandhi's reluctance to contest Raebareli comes from Patel.
Gandhi had contested from both Raebareli and Wayanad in 2024. He won both seats but later vacated Wayanad and retained Raebareli.
SP and Congress head towards seat-sharing talks
Patel's comments come as the two parties prepare to negotiate their seat-sharing arrangement for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam has said the party would not contest fewer than 150 of the state's 403 Assembly constituencies under an alliance arrangement. Patel has rejected that demand, saying even allowing Congress to contest 50 seats would be a major concession.
Patel also pointed to Congress's performance in the 2022 Assembly election, when the party contested across the state but won only two seats. Congress currently has two MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, compared with 101 for the SP.
He argued that Congress's position in Uttar Pradesh was substantially weaker than the SP's and warned that the party could lose further ground if it contested independently.
"If we proceed with an alliance, we will certainly benefit. Even if it doesn't happen, we won't have any significant loss," Patel said.
"But for them, the tally will drop to zero," he added, claiming that Congress candidates contesting separately could be perceived as attempts to split votes.
Akhilesh asks leaders to keep differences internal
The public exchange has prompted Akhilesh Yadav to intervene. On Saturday, the SP chief asked party leaders to raise their concerns about seat-sharing with the party leadership rather than airing them publicly.
"I would like to tell all our leaders that whatever opinions or concerns they have regarding seat-sharing should be shared with us. Whenever the discussion takes place, we will discuss and consider their suggestions," Yadav said.
The intervention followed Patel's criticism of Congress's reported demand for 150 seats and reflects tensions between the two INDIA bloc partners ahead of formal negotiations.
Seat-sharing discussions are expected to take place later in October. Congress has maintained that it has candidates and organisational presence across the state, while the SP has pointed to its stronger representation in the current Assembly and its 2024 Lok Sabha performance.
Patel questions Congress's caste strategy
Asked about Congress's strategy of appointing a Brahmin as its Uttar Pradesh unit president and a Muslim as working president, Patel dismissed the approach as unlikely to deliver electoral gains.
He claimed that Dalit voters who had previously supported Mayawati had moved towards the SP because they believed the community had not seen sufficient upliftment under successive Congress and BJP governments.
Patel said the SP's approach was based on providing equal opportunities to different sections of society, including access to education for their children.
He linked this approach to the party's name and its association with socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, saying the SP's objective was the welfare of all sections of society.
'We are the elder brother', says SP MP
Patel also used the "elder brother" formulation to describe the SP's position within the Uttar Pradesh alliance.
Asked what Akhilesh Yadav would do if Congress's Uttar Pradesh president Aradhana Misra, referred to by Patel as the "sister", demanded a larger share of seats, he said: "In Uttar Pradesh, we are the elder brother. In fact, a much elder brother."
He said Congress might have greater influence in some other states but had lost ground whenever it contested Uttar Pradesh on its own.
Patel said an alliance would benefit both parties but argued that Congress stood to lose more if the partnership collapsed.
Congress hits back at Patel
Congress responded sharply to Patel's remarks.
Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said the SP should rein in leaders making such statements and reminded Patel that he had become an MP with the support of the INDIA bloc.
"It is because of the INDIA bloc that he (Patel) has become an MP. He should know his limits and avoid making statements like these," Awasthi told PTI.
The latest exchange adds to the public friction between the two parties as they prepare to negotiate their respective shares of the Assembly seats.
The Congress's electoral position in Uttar Pradesh has declined substantially since it last governed the state in 1989. In the current 403-member Assembly, the party has two MLAs, while the SP has 101. The 2024 Lok Sabha election, however, saw Congress improve its tally to six seats in the state, while the SP emerged with 37.