UP ByPolls 2024: Indian National Congress may distance itself from the by-elections being held on 9 seats in Uttar Pradesh. This claim has been made by sources. According to sources, there has been a rift in the Congress–Samajwadi Party alliance. According to sources, angry with the Samajwadi Party's offer of only two out of 9 seats, Congress is considering keeping distance from the by-elections and not fielding any candidate on any seat and letting the Samajwadi Party contest all the 9 seats. Congress is also angry with the unilateral announcement of candidates by the Samajwadi Party. The very next day of the Haryana election results, SP had announced candidates on 6 seats. After this, Congress's UP in-charge Avinash Pandey also said that this is a unilateral announcement and it was not discussed with us.

Although some leaders of UP Congress are in favour of fielding candidates on all seats, the most likely possibility is that Congress may not field even a single candidate in the by-election. An official announcement regarding this is expected on Monday. Meanwhile, amid these claims, UP Congress President Ajay Rai has said that he will field his candidates in the UP by-election. We are in talks with SP for 5 seats. The final decision will be taken by the national leadership.

These two seats were offered to Congress. By-
elections were to be held on 10 seats in UP. However, apart from Milkipur, the Election Commission has announced elections only on the remaining 9 seats namely Karhal, Sisamau, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Phulpur, Majhawan, Katehari, Khair and Meerapur.

Voting for the UP by-election is to be held on November 13 and counting will be done on November 23. SP has so far announced candidates for a total of 7 seats including Milkipur. Aligarh's Khair and Ghaziabad Sadar seat were offered to Congress.

Rajendra Chaudhary, one of Akhilesh Yadav's close aides, had clarified in an interview to PTI recently that out of all the 9 seats, SP will contest on 7 and Congress on 2. He had also reiterated that the India Alliance will not break and the elections will be fought with strength.

Through this by-election, Congress is also trying to do a litmus test for 2027. Congress, which won 6 MPs in the Lok Sabha elections , had asked the SP to give it five of the 10 seats that have fallen vacant, which the Bharatiya Janata Party had won in the 2022 elections.

Haryana's revenge in UP?
Ajay Rai has also said on many occasions that Congress wants Majhawan, Ghaziabad, Khair, Meerapur and Phulpur seats. Out of these, SP has announced candidates for Majhawan, Meerapur and Phulpur. 

SP is also upset that Congress did not give importance to the party in Haryana. On the day the Haryana election results were announced, many party leaders said in one voice that even if SP was not given a seat, if Congress wanted, it could have called Akhilesh Yadav for campaigning.

SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra had also hinted at this. He had said that if Congress gives importance to the party in Maharashtra, its effect will be seen in UP as well. SP is also demanding 12 seats in Maharashtra. Not only this, the party has also announced candidates on five seats.

The seat sharing formula of Mahavikas Aghadi in Maharashtra is not clear yet, so time will tell how much support Congress gives to SP there.