Notwithstanding the bonhomie generated by the stellar performance of the INDIA bloc in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in which the Samajwadi Party-Congress combine collectively won 43 of the 80 constituencies in the state, both the parties are at loggerheads over sharing of seats in the UP assembly by-elections. The bypolls are to be held for 10 UP assembly seats. Though fighting the Bharatiya Janata Party remains the glue for keeping the SP and Congress together, the battle for control over the Muslim vote bank remains the point of contention between the two parties. Sources in the two parties say that both have staked claim to the Meerapur assembly seat in Bijnor district of western UP as well as Phulpur and Majhawan in the eastern part of the state.  Congress sources say the party has begun preparations in all 10 constituencies where bypoll are to be held but it is not pushing hard on the five – Karhal, Kundarki, Sisamau, Milkipur and Katheri – that the SP won in 2022. Sources in SP say the party is ready to leave Ghaziabad and Khair assembly seats for the Congress, which means that Bijnor, Phulpur and Majhawan seats remain the bone of contention. Out of the 10 UP assembly seats – Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Khair, Kundarki, Karhal, Phulpur, Sisamau, Milkipur, Katheri and Majhwan –going to bypolls, five were won by the SP in 2022. While the BJP won three, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and NISHAD Party won one seat each. Leaders from the Congress and SP have their own arguments on why they want these three seats. Claiming that the SP wants to keep all the minority-dominated seats for itself, a Congress leader said that Meerapur, where the bypoll has been necessitated after sitting RLD MLA Chandan Chauhan won the Bijnor Lok Sabha seat, has a significant population of Muslims and this would prove to be an advantage for any party in the 2027 assembly polls. The bypoll in Phulpur has been necessitated after sitting BJP MLA Praveen Singh Patel won the recent Lok Sabha election. Here, the SP leaders are citing the partys performance in recent elections to stake its claim, while the Congress is eyeing the seat to revive its voter base there. The SP, which last won the seat in 2012, gave Patel a run for his money in the 2017 and 2022 assembly polls, with its candidate MM Siddiqui losing by a narrow margin of 2,700 votes in 2022. The Congress is getting ambitious. The call (on the alliance) will be taken by the national leadership of both parties, an SP leader said. However, sources within the Congress say that the minority communities are firmly behind it and the partys chances of winning Phulpur are brighter than that of the SP this time.

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