Akhilesh Yadav speaks on his upcoming visit to Ram Mandir and the reason behind it | HTLS 2026

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the Congress is seeking to contest 181 of the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh in next year's elections. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2026, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister described the Samajwadi Party's relationship with Congress as “very good” while responding to questions about seat-sharing negotiations between the INDIA bloc allies. Asked whether Congress had sought 100 seats, Yadav said its demand was higher. He indicated that the party had asked for slightly fewer than 200 seats and confirmed the figure as 181 when asked directly. His remarks offer an indication of the seat-sharing discussions between the two parties ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2027.