Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai. File | Photo credit: ANI
Under the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Uttar Pradesh, parties are equal partners and there are no lesser or greater partners, Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai said on Saturday (May 9, 2026). “We are in an alliance and together we will defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” Mr. Rai told The Hindu.
“Any decision on behalf of the Congress will be taken by the high command. The Congress party is strengthening its booth-level organization in all 403 Assembly seats to defeat the BJP,” Mr. Rai said when asked if “equal partners” meant the demand for equal distribution of seats during the Assembly elections.
Mr Rai’s comment has significance as Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav made a cryptic post on social media platform X on Friday (May 8). “We are not the ones who abandon you in tough times,” Mr Yadav said alongside a picture of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and outgoing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin. The Congress-DMK alliance ended after the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
We are not ones to give up in hard times. pic.twitter.com/p1EosEJtvV
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 8, 2026
SP is the largest INDIA block in Uttar Pradesh and will act as a fulcrum to defeat BJP in UP, Sunil Singh Yadav ‘Sajan’, said SP spokesperson, adding that there is greater clarity among the leadership of both parties on how and what is needed to defeat BJP in UP.
“Both Rahul Gandhi-ji and Akhilesh Yadav-ji share a clear idea of how winning each seat is necessary to defeat the BJP. The question is not about a smaller or bigger partner, it is about which party is capable of defeating the BJP in a particular seat. The fact is that with 37 MPs and more than 100 MLAs,” we trust, the strength of the BJP, which we have defeated, with our partners. he said.
Published – 09 May 2026 21:42 IST
