Rift in INDI Alliance? Why Akhilesh Yadav's absence from Delhi meeting matters

Amid speculation of a rift between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has broken his silence about his decision to skip the INDI Alliance meeting scheduled for September 30.

Akhilesh himself has made it clear that he is opting to skip the meeting, to be held in Delhi. The meeting is being held to discuss the strategy of the bloc with regard to the functioning of the Election Commission and concerns related to SIR and some other issues.

Akhilesh, who kicked off his party's campaign for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections by launching the 'PDA Rath Yatra' from Raebareli on September 24, has stated that he has informed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge that he was busy with other work and that senior SP leaders will attend instead of him at the meeting.

The SP chief’s absence from the meeting has raised eyebrows, considering that the party and the Congress had a war of words recently. Congress announced plans to enter SP strongholds in the upcoming elections, in retaliation for Akhilesh launching the Rath Yatra from Congress bastion Rae Bareli.

Rai’s remarks had triggered SP veteran and six-term lawmaker from Jaswantnagar, Shivpal Yadav, who sserted that Congress won't be receiving any votes in SP bastions even if it tries to make inroads there. "Anyone can indeed visit anywhere, so let them visit. Even if they (Congress) do try, they won't achieve anything, any votes in whole Jaswantnagar," Shivpal said.

Congress leaders announced that they would visit the Samajwadi Party strongholds of Etawah, Kannauj and Mainpuri over the coming days. To this, Akhilesh said, "We constantly learn from our opponents. The ruling party is the opposition for us. You may have noticed that they, too, are fighting superficially, but are secretly in cahoots. We too should learn something from our opponents. Like other parties, we too are internally in cahoots. That's a sham; our fight is also part of our strategy," he said.

Both parties have differences in seat-sharing, according to reports. There is a war of words between senior leaders, with Congress MP Imran Masood responding to the delay in seat-sharing and Akhilesh Yadav's election campaign, stating that without Rahul  Gandhi's active involvement, nothing would happen.

“The country is looking to Rahul. Any delay in seat-sharing, the more we will suffer,” he said. However, SP leadership has vocally hit out against the claim, stating that only Akhilesh can defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.