The Samajwadi Party and the Congress have faced several pulls and pressures in their past alliances in Uttar Pradesh, which have dimmed the probability of the two coming together. However, Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar has seen several chief ministers and former chief ministers across the opposition bloc participating in it, and the presence of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is certainly garnering attention.
Earlier, there have been turf wars between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh due to which both the leaders would hold back from supporting each other, except for shared political benefits. The relationship between the two mellowed down after the successful campaign in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, where they scored a majority of seats.
The Bihar rally, therefore, has placed renewed focus on the personal equation between the two. Akhilesh said that he would like to congratulate Gandhi, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav and the public who have been raising their voices against the alleged vote theft.
Gandhi and Akhilesh had earlier campaigned in the 2017 assembly elections under the banner of “UP ke ladke”, presenting themselves as alternatives. That experiment, however, collapsed under the BJP wave. In the present climate of alleged electoral malpractice, both seemed to have found a renewed common cause in mobilising voters and protecting democratic institutions.
In the 2023 assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, the local Congress leadership had tried to keep the Samajwadi Party away despite the Congress high command's assurance that the SP would be accommodated in the list of ticket distribution. A leader close to the SP chief said, "Akhilesh Yadav had suggested Congress release all the candidates of his party themselves to send a message of unity across, but when the Congress released the list, it had no names of SP candidates."
On Saturday, after Akhilesh joined the rally, Congress general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal termed him a steadfast ally in their fight against the BJP's destruction of our democracy.
"This morning, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav Ji joined the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Saran. Welcomed him to this historic movement to protect democracy. He has been a steadfast ally in our fight against the BJP's destruction of our democracy, and a strong voice for the poor and underprivileged in UP and across the country," he said.
The tweet signals a potential consolidation of the opposition bloc in Uttar Pradesh as well.
A Member of Parliament said that the two—Gandhi and Akhilesh—have been meeting in parliament often and have shown better synergies about their future political ventures together. He said that when there was a discussion over the 2027 assembly elections, both the leaders agreed to form a well-coordinated front against the BJP.
"Although a few people around Akhilesh have wanted to keep him away from the Congress, there are still people in both parties who have made many efforts to bring the two together. And both the leaders have realised that backing each other can help save their political turf and defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh."