The Congress has begun internal preparations for seat-sharing with the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi chairing a high-level meeting of state leaders on Monday, Dainik Jagran reported on Tuesday. State Congress president Aradhana Misra and MP Imran Masood were among the leaders who, according to the report, submitted a list of seats where the Congress believes it can contest strongly.

The leaders discussed about 175 seats where the party says it has a strong cadre network, sorting them into three categories by ground presence and prominent leaders, according to both reports. NDTV reported the list comprised roughly 100 'Category A' seats, 40-50 'Category B' seats and 25-35 'Category C' seats. Another meeting is expected later this week to finalise the list, after which the Congress may present a demand of about 125 to 150 seats to the SP, the reports said. Jagran reported the party aims to conclude the talks by the end of November, with Priyanka Gandhi likely to lead the negotiations.

On the SP side, Jagran reported that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party is reportedly not willing to offer more than about 60 seats, pointing to the Congress's performance in the 2022 assembly polls, when it won only two seats in the state. Senior leaders in both camps, however, are reported to favour contesting together, after the INDIA bloc outperformed the NDA in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

All of these figures are reported positions, not announced decisions: neither the Congress nor the Samajwadi Party has officially announced a seat-sharing formula. The Uttar Pradesh assembly election is expected in the early months of 2027, when all 403 seats will be contested.

Sources: Dainik Jagran (Jagran News Network), 20 October 2026; NDTV report on the Priyanka Gandhi-led meeting.