Alliance with SP in a limbo? Cong to go solo in MLC polls | Lucknow News

Lucknow: Is the Congress-Samajwadi Party tie-up in Uttar Pradesh over? The speculations have started doing the rounds after UP Congress chief Ajai Rai on Friday announced that the party will go alone in the next year’s Legislative Council polls in the state.“Congress will contest 11 graduate and teachers’ seats in MLC polls and help all teachers who want to contest on these seats,” Rai had said on Friday. There are 16 such seats, of which 11 will go to polls in 2026.Rai has clarified that the decision will not impact the party’s ties with SP. “MLC elections are not contested on party symbols and, therefore, it will not have any bearing on our alliance with the SP in UP. Those speculating are making a failed attempt to create a divide between us,” he said.He said the decision to contest the teachers’ seats in MLC polls has been taken to raise issues pertaining strongly before govt and has nothing to do with the political equations with INDIA bloc partners. Sources in Congress, however, said that Rai has been ‘wise with words’ but there is a deeper purpose to the decision. “Our leadership declared 2025 as the year of organisational building and strengthening. In line with that, the state unit launched a multi-layered strategy to fortify the party’s presence across various strata of society. Teachers are directly associated with nation-building, which is also a goal of the Congress... therefore, the party is out to extend support to them,” said a senior UP Congress functionary.A party veteran said the move is aimed at testing political and electoral waters in UP ahead of the 2027 elections. “UP is one state where Congress has been out of office since the late 1980s. Over the past few decades, its tally has been sliding rapidly. To take on the powerful opponent (BJP) in 2027, the party is making desperate efforts to rebuild itself. These efforts would be tested in panchayat and MLC elections. The learnings from these two levels are needed to fine-tune the strategy for 2027,” he said.Another Congress veteran said stakeholders like the SP will take Congress seriously only if we have strength. “To ensure that Congress remains in a bargaining position, at least to earn a good deal for itself in UP, it must make the most of the opportunity of organisational rebuilding that comes with elections like panchayat or MLC,” he said.