18 June, 2025:
Amidst swirling speculation of a rift with the Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav firmly dismissed any cracks in the INDIA bloc, declaring that the alliance remains intact and united. He said that the SP will stand strong with the opposition front and contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as part of the coalition.
The former chief minister also said that the SP is fully prepared for the panchayat polls likely to be held in the state early next year.
Akhilesh Yadav gave the assurance while addressing mounting concerns among minority leaders within his party, amid rising tensions between Saharanpur Congress MP Imran Masood and Saharanpur Dehat SP MLA Ashu Malik, a feud ignited by a public war of words between the two prominent Muslim leaders.
“We are not worried about any such statement. The INDIA bloc is intact and we are firmly with it. Those who are unhappy can walk out...the alliance will contest the elections together,” said Mr. Yadav, while replying to a media query on a recent statement by Congress Lok Sabha MP Imran Masood regarding a reset in seat sharing between the SP and the Congress for the 2027 polls.
Speaking on the upcoming 2026 panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav said, “We are fully prepared for the panchayat elections. We will hold a party meeting in this regard.” Taking a swipe at the ruling BJP, he alleged that the saffron party is resorting to tactics to disrupt the electoral balance. “There are about 52,000-gram panchayats right now. They (BJP) are thinking about increasing the numbers, so that our votes get messed up,” he said, hinting at a larger political design behind the reported move.
Both the Congress and SP are part of the opposition INDIA alliance, which was created before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to electorally challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The SP and Congress contested the parliamentary polls together in U.P. registering limited success with the SP winning 37 seats while the Congress emerged victorious in six seats, it’s best performance in U.P. since 2009.
