Appointment of prominent West UP Muslim face seen as signal of hard bargaining with the SP

Lucknow, Oct 2: Saharanpur MP Imran Masood, who was appointed the Congress's working president in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, said the party's turnaround in the state would be scripted in 2027.

Speaking to PTI over the phone, Masood said he would work round the clock with renewed energy to implement decisions in the party's interest. He was attending a wedding reception when his phone began ringing with congratulatory messages. "The party's interest will be paramount. If I have been given a responsibility, I will try my best to live up to the trust the leadership has placed in me," he said.

"We are going to do well, and we will leave no stone unturned to ensure the party's graph, which has been rising since the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, keeps going up. You will see 2027 script the party's turnaround in UP," he added.

The Congress's choice of Masood, a prominent Muslim face from West UP, as working president is being read as a signal that the party is preparing for some "hard bargaining" with the Samajwadi Party before the 2027 alliance is finalised. The announcement came after considerable posturing, with the party's UP in-charge Rajendra Gautam telling the media that Congress would not settle for fewer than 150 seats in an alliance with the SP for the 2027 UP elections.

Asked about the figure, Masood said: "I don't know all that. But if my party's UP in-charge has quoted a number, we will stand by it. But alliance details are not going to be finalised over such phone calls. The party leadership will take the final call, and we will go by what the party says."

He also said, "You all know me, the way I am and surely will continue to be so," adding that he would ensure the party's interest was not compromised at any stage.

Masood had recently said that Rahul Gandhi was the only leader in the country capable of taking on the BJP. The remark drew a sharp response from Samajwadi Party's Shamli MP Iqra Hasan, who pitched Akhilesh Yadav as the only leader in UP who could check the BJP. "On its own, Congress won't be able to achieve much in UP," she had said, underlining the differences between leaders of the two parties, especially in West UP, where the RLD has now joined hands with the BJP.