India, Nov. 14 -- The Congress is seeking 181 of the 403 assembly seats ahead of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections due early next year, the party's ally and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday. Yadav said the SP has decided how many seats it will contest and underlined that the goal is to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"Rule and reality will change in UP," he said at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, alluding to the summit's theme of "New Rules. New Realities". Track the HTLS 2026 session live here

He emphasised the "very good" relationship with the Congress when asked how many seats it has asked to fight on, and whether it was 100. "The number of seats they have asked for is higher than what you are ...