Lucknow: An hour-long meeting between Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi at the latter’s office in the Parliament complex on Monday triggered speculations of seat-sharing talks between the SP and the Congress for the UP Assembly polls.Though what transpired at the meeting is not known, the bonhomie on display between Rahul and Akhilesh — when they joined the students’ protest in Delhi and courted arrest on Tuesday — suggests the two parties and their brass are well in tune with each other.The meeting took place after both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day following the Opposition’s uproar over paper leaks and Ram temple donation theft.While a bunch of SP MPs accompanied Dimple Yadav to Jantar Mantar to participate in the students’ protest, Akhilesh, flanked by the remaining MPs, met the LoP at his office.The SP chief later described the development as “just another meeting”.What, however, added credence to speculations that it was something more than a courtesy call were reports that though Faizabad (Ayodhya) MP Awadhesh Prasad accompanied the SP chief to Rahul’s office, he was not part of the discussions between the two leaders, who were joined by Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.Interestingly, Priyanka was Congress general secretary in charge of UP till 2023, when she was replaced by party veteran Avinash Pandey. Recently, Avinash was replaced by Rajendra Pal Gautam, who is said to be close to Priyanka.Sources said for the UP polls, Congress is keen to avoid any Bihar-like situation where the party contested 60 seats that the RJD had spared it. However, it won only 6, apparently because most of the seats offered a tough contest.Sources said Congress is looking at a seat share of 100-plus in UP — the numbers it contested when the two parties got together for the 2017 assembly polls.Senior SP netas refused to comment on the shape or dimensions of the alliance.“Our party chief has already said the number of seats is not an issue. It will be the winnability of the candidate that will matter,” said a senior SP member.In the 2024 SP-Congress alliance, the winnability factor remained at play in the selection of candidates. Congress staked its claim on seats with names of candidates and their “measurable” hold on voters, like the performance of the individual in past elections, etc.The SP either agreed to the claims or came up with an alternative “option” based on similar “measurable” factors, and the two parties thereafter decided who would take the seat.
