New Delhi [India], October 5 : Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Dharmendra Yadav on Monday said Congress leaders should stop making statements on seat-sharing in the media and present their demands directly to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. 
Speaking to ANI, Yadav expressed confidence about victory in the upcoming 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. 
"I would tell my Congress colleagues, wherever they can win, they should not keep that point in front of the media. There is no need to keep it in the media. If they present it in the right way before our leader, then the entire country knows about our leader; he is a very large-hearted leader. But I would tell my Congress colleagues to stop making statements in the media," he said.
Asked about the Congress's demand for seats, Yadav said that decision rests with the party's top leadership.
"We don't have any confusion. National President Akhilesh Yadav has the full trust of every leader, every worker, every voter of the Samajwadi Party. Every single person in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party knows that whatever decision respected Akhilesh Yadav ji takes, it will definitely be for the better, not just for the party, but for the entire Uttar Pradesh and the country. That is why we are not getting stuck in these discussions. This work has been taken up by the people of Congress," he said. 
He said that the grassroots preparations are underway in the state, and people are eager for polling and a change. 
Yadav said, "In Uttar Pradesh, under the leadership of respected Akhilesh ji, every section, every caste, every religion of the entire state, especially the PDA people, are firmly resolved, and people are eagerly waiting for the moment of voting, for the day of voting to come, and to uproot the Bharatiya Janata Party."
Referring to Akhilesh Yadav's post that the issue is "not about seats, it's about winning," he said the BJP had to be defeated, and the government changed.
"It is natural, because the BJP has to be defeated, the government has to be changed, the center of hope, aspiration, and trust for the people of the entire country is with Akhilesh Yadav," he said.  
He added, "In the upcoming 2027, we will take the historic support and blessings of the public and demolish the BJP's bulldozer government."
On Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X that the larger objective of the alliance should be electoral victory rather than which party gets how many seats. "When the goal is clear, hand in hand we stand; when the gaze is fixed on the destination, the journey becomes easy!" he said.
He added, "The big thing isn't how many seats the alliance gets or which seat goes to whom—the big thing is that we all must ensure that the victory belongs to the alliance. Let us repeat again: It's not about the seats, it's about the victory."
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam told ANI the party was seeking an equal share and equal respect in seat-sharing with the SP for the 2027 Assembly elections. 
"Who asked for 150 seats? I had actually spoken about 200. I have maintained from the very beginning that there must be equal respect and an equal share. After all, the Congress party is the country's oldest and largest party," he said.
"We can only win if we get seats. We can only win if we contest the election. Does anyone ever win without fighting elections?" Gautam said, adding that the Congress was strengthening its organisation across all 403 constituencies and wanted seat-sharing finalised in October so candidates have time to prepare.
"In Uttar Pradesh, the two main parties are Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Both are responsible; they also respect each other. We have to move forward together. The share and respect should be equal," he said.
The SP and Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state as INDIA bloc allies. The SP won 37 seats, emerging as the single-largest party in Uttar Pradesh and the third-largest in the 18th Lok Sabha, while Congress holds 6 of the state's 80 seats. 
Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in 2027, with the BJP and the SP expected to be the principal contenders.
The BJP has retained power in Uttar Pradesh by winning 255 out of 403 constituencies, securing a 41.29 per cent vote share.
Former CM Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party came a distant second in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh election, securing 111 seats and getting 32.06 per cent of the votes.
The two other major parties - Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Indian National Congress (INC) - were reduced to a single digit. BSP won one seat and Congress two seats. Moreover, the vote shares of BSP and the Congress party stood at 12.88 per cent and 2.33 per cent.