As the Lok Sabha polls draw near, the Congress finds itself struggling to secure seat sharing with key alliances. Internal discord brews as party leaders depart, and tensions escalate in Karnataka as some MLAs threaten to quit over ticket allocation issues, casting shadows over the party’s prospects.
The grand old party on Wednesday took offence to its partners Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Lalu Prasad-led RJD in Bihar where the INDIA Bloc members have announced their respective Lok Sabha contestants.
Aurangabad, Begusarai, Katihar, Purnia, and Siwan in Bihar are the seats where disagreements have kept the Mahagathbandhan allies from reaching a seat-sharing arrangement. Sources said the RJD has distributed tickets to its candidates, leaving the Congress red-faced.
In Maharashtra, the Congress has objected to the Shiv Sena (UBT) announcing its candidates for the Bhiwandi, Mumbai South Central and Sangli Lok Sabha seats, saying MVA partners must stick to “coalition dharma”.
While Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat urged Sena (UBT) to reconsider its decision, his party colleague Sanjay Nirupam adopted a more belligerent stand, attacking Congress leadership for letting the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit grab most of the seats in Mumbai.
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) have been holding seat-sharing discussions for the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra, where the Lok Sabha polls will be held in five phases starting April 19.
Amid the talks, Sena (UBT) earlier in the day released its first list of 17 candidates for the upcoming elections and said it will contest a total of 22 seats in the State. Thorat said his party’s State unit has apprised the central leadership of the developments.
The Congress also lamented that Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar had announced a separate list of candidates.
Nirupam, who is keen to contest the Mumbai North West parliamentary constituency, said the party leadership hasn’t got in touch with him in the last fortnight. “The leadership isn’t bothered that injustice is being done to its leaders and workers. Shiv Sena (UBT) is making us bend and we are doing it,” he said.
In Bihar, while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav rushed to Delhi to stitch together the alliance after days of hiccups in the seat-sharing issue, former Lok Sabha MP Pappu Yadav, who merged his party with the Congress last week, asserted that he will not budge over his claim to the Purnea seat, which was contested by RJD. The latter had expressed uneasiness over Pappu joining the Congress.
Tejashwi and Congress leaders held talks on Tuesday to sort out the differences that have emerged between the two allies over the seat-sharing arrangements in Bihar. The much-awaited meeting took place at senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik’s official residence after a week of tussle. Wasnik is the convener of his party’s alliance committee. Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh and AICC in-charge Mohan Prakash were also present.
Further, a day after the rebel and later suspended legislators joined the BJP in Himachal Pradesh and now all are candidates in the Assembly polls, in Karnataka five Congress legislators threatened to resign if senior party leader and Minister K H Muniyappa’s son-in-law Chikka Peddanna was given a ticket to contest from Kolar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, bringing into open the divisions in the party.
