LUCKNOW: Congress’ poor performance in the Bihar Assembly elections has prompted its INDI Alliance partner, the Samajwadi Party(SP), to reassess the party’s electoral viability ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2027.

Much like Bihar, the Grand Alliance in UP is positioning itself against the BJP-led NDA, but Congress’ weak showing in the neighbouring state has raised concerns within the SP.

Contrary voices have begun emerging from the Samajwadi Party and Congress camps in UP. Two senior leaders from each party have engaged in expressing opposing views over the INDI bloc’s leadership.

As in Bihar, Congress remains a diminishing force in Uttar Pradesh with a dwindling vote bank, while the SP continues to rely heavily on the Muslim–Yadav (MY) equation as its core vote base, similar to the RJD in Bihar. This similarity has led the SP to proceed cautiously in seat-sharing negotiations for the UP Assembly elections.

A senior SP leader, former minister and current MLA Ravidas Mehrotra, has sought the SP chief to take on the role of leading the INDI bloc. In response, Congress MP from Saharanpur has rushed to clarify that his leader Rahul Gandhi was the “undisputed leader” of the INDI Alliance.

Many senior SP leaders believe that the Congress should make space for regional satraps to lead the alliance. They argue that since the SP was the second-largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha and the main opposition in Uttar Pradesh, politically the most crucial state in the country, its chief should be accepted as the leader of the INDI Alliance. According to them, Congress’ performance in Bihar, with a strike rate of just 10 per cent, reflected the shrinking base of the grand old party.