Congress says open to alliance in UP but also focused on rebuilding its strength on ground

Lucknow: Congress is in the middle of a month-long organisation-building campaign across all 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to strengthen its grassroots presence and the party is hopeful of striking a “respectful and suitable” alliance to take on the BJP in the 2027 assembly polls.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance delivered a strong performance—the Congress winning six of the 17 seats it contested and the SP bagging 37 seats—reducing the BJP’s tally from 62 to 33 in UP, the most populous state in the country.

Perhaps that is why Congress general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande told PTI that while the party is focused on rebuilding its grassroots presence across the state, it would, in all likelihood, look to enter into a “respectable and suitable alliance” under the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the next round of elections.” For the moment however, Pande said, the party in the middle of "Sangathan Srijan" (organisation building) campaign across all 75 districts in UP is also gearing up for the panchayat polls, which would be held in 2026, a year ahead of the 2027 polls.

Pande who is on a seven-day tour of the state, meeting district-level leaders and workers to assess progress and energise the cadre said a 100-day programme has been launched to drive the effort, with trained professionals overseeing implementation as the Congress is eyeing the panchayat polls to increase its rural penetration in UP.

In the 2022 state polls, the two parties had contested separately. While SP improved its count from 47 to 111 seats, Congress was reduced to just two.

"Talking about the alliance, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc is very much in existence but as you know, an alliance of the regional parties and us (Congress) as a national party came together to give a strong opposition to the BJP. So, we are strengthening our organisation and because of that we will come together as a strong alliance," Pande told PTI.

"We are trying to build our party stronger so that in case if we have a respectable and suitable alliance at the time of elections to defeat the BJP, then we should be in a good position to give a befitting result," he added.

On the rise of regional parties like the SP and BSP and the BJP’s current dominance, Pande said, “I must tell you that regional parties came much, much later than the Congress, which was giving good governance to the people in Uttar Pradesh right from the freedom and after the formation of the state." "At present, we are focused on organisation rebuilding of the party in Uttar Pradesh, not just for contesting the elections alone but also doing a lot of other works which are directly related to the cause of the people and the welfare of the state." Pande also hit out at the BJP government, accusing it of autocratic functioning and side-lining the democratic role of the opposition.

“One thing that everybody can see is that the government is biased and trying to violate the Constitution by taking autocratic decisions. You can see all the decisions are being taken by suppressing the opposition, which is not being accorded due respect,” he said.

He added, “Obviously it is the government which is responsible to carry people’s liking and welfare. They should take care of people’s welfare—whether it is for infrastructure, education, employment or inflation. Congress is performing its responsibility as Opposition with full ability and best intentions.” On the organisational front, the senior Congress leader said the party’s "Sangathan Srijan" campaign aims to rebuild its structure at five levels—state, district, block, mandal, and booth—following a resolution passed at the AICC plenary session.

“This is being undertaken in a phased manner under the leadership of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and the guidance of the party’s central leadership,” he said.

On Congress’ relevance in UP today, Pande said, “I must tell you that Congress is the country’s oldest party which played a role in the freedom struggle. It has always been very relevant and ideologically very close to the psyche of the common Indian,” he added.

“The Congress in UP is trying to restructure itself from the state level to the booth level,” he added.

“There is a visible sense of enthusiasm among the party workers, and I am confident Congress will perform well in the 2026 panchayat elections, the 2027 assembly elections, and the 2029 general elections. We aim to regain public trust and serve the people of Uttar Pradesh in line with their expectations,” he said.