Sambhal sparks rift: INDIA bloc allies face leadership turmoil?

Congress leaders dismissed SP’s accusations, asserting that the party has been vocal about Sambhal on all platforms.

The Sambhal incident, which witnessed five deaths during violence following a survey of the Shahi Masjid ordered by a local court last month, has emerged as a flashpoint between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, two key allies of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh. The incident has deepened the fault lines, with both parties jostling to project themselves as the primary advocates for the minority community.

The SP has accused the Congress of sidelining the Sambhal issue in Parliament (PTI)

The SP has accused the Congress of sidelining the Sambhal issue in Parliament, alleging that the Congress prioritised raising the Adani issue over the lives lost and the violence in Sambhal. SP leaders claim their MPs and MLAs were prevented from raising the issue, while Congress leadership remained focused on corporate scandals.

A senior SP leader, speaking anonymously, criticised Congress’s approach: “How many times will they raise Adani? The Sambhal issue, where five people died, deserved immediate attention. Congress failed to defend opposition MPs and allowed their leader, Rahul Gandhi, to remain exclusive rather than leading from the front,” the leader said.

The leader also alleged that Congress deliberately kept Akhilesh Yadav at a distance in Parliament to prevent effective coordination between opposition leaders. As per the tradition, seating arrangements in Lok Sabha are finalised by the Speaker after due acknowledgement of the Leader of Opposition.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders dismissed SP’s accusations, asserting that the party has been vocal about Sambhal on all platforms. Former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai defended his party’s stance, stating: “Congress has firmly raised the Sambhal issue, whether on the road or inside the House. Such allegations are baseless.”

Rai further added that his party contested on mixed-population seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, unlike the SP, which retained minority-dominated constituencies. He argued: “SP has always kept minority-dominated seats for themselves while we contested in regions like Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Kanpur. This shows Congress’s commitment to broader representation.”

The Sambhal dispute reflects broader tensions within the INDIA bloc, particularly over leadership. Journalist Ratan Mani Lal commented on the growing divide: “The INDIA bloc’s core issue has always been leadership. Congress considers itself the alliance’s backbone due to its national stature, but regional parties like the SP have grown stronger in their domains.” “On the issue of Sambhal, the SP has been toeing the line taken by its founder Mulayam Singh Yadav i.e. to stand firmly with the minority community, while the Congress appears fixated on national-level narratives like Adani.”

The disagreement over Sambhal may foreshadow challenges in the alliance’s seat-sharing negotiations for the 2027 U.P. assembly elections. The SP has accused the Congress of exploiting minority-dominated regions to strengthen its bargaining power. “Congress blackmails in the name of Muslims and Dalits,” claimed the SP leader. “They demand half of the seats (in bypolls), but are they equal partners? On the contrary, they don’t want to raise the issue of Sambhal, if the LoP, Rahul Gandhi, had raised the issue, he would have been highlighted,” the SP leader added.

Rai refuted these claims, arguing that the Congress has consistently fielded candidates in constituencies with diverse demographics: “We contested 17 seats in the last elections, most of which were not minority-dominated. This accusation lacks basis.”

Answering a question on fault lines between the INDIA bloc allies in the state, he said that none of the statements were given first from any Congress leader, it was only after statements from SP leaders like Ram Gopal Yadav that some Congress leaders had to speak on the issue.

“SP wants the INDIA bloc to contest elections together,” SP general secretary Yadav had said on Saturday during a press meet in Saifai. However, when questioned on whether SP considers Rahul as the leader of the bloc, he responded, “For now, Mallikarjun Kharge is the leader of the INDIA bloc.”