After four rounds of meetings over “tea and coffee” at different cities in the last six months, the real challenge of seat sharing allocation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls among the major stakeholders of the INDIA bloc led by the Congress has begun.
Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Janata Dal (U) and RJD, NCP, Samajwadi Party is reported to have started “bargain” with the grand old party considered to be the chariot leader of the coalition to take on the Narendra Modi’s juggernaut in forthcoming General Elections.
Against the backdrop of resentments expressed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tried to reach out to Nitish, but they could not converse due to prior engagements. Rahul’s response came soon after JD(U) Lok Sabha member Sunil Kumar Pintu took a swipe at the Delhi INDIA bloc meeting on Wednesday, stating, “When compared to the last meetings where good snacks were served, this time it got over with only tea, coffee, and biscuits.”
Sources said Rahul Gandhi could not speak to Nitish since he was in a meeting and, when Nitish called back, Rahul was in the middle of a party meeting. Sources told The Pioneer that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken to Nitish Kumar on Friday.
Sources said Nitish had an aspiration to be the prime ministerial candidate of the large Opposition grouping as it was he who first took the initiative and brought everyone together at Patna meeting in June, but in this week’s meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was given a push by TMC and AAP. Kharge has though declined on this front and said focus is to win the maximum number of seats in the elections.
JD(U) national general secretary Sanjay Kumar Jha, who had attended the meeting along with Nitish Kumar on December 19 said Nitish had stressed the need to finalise seat-sharing arrangements by January. He, however, refuted reports that the senior JD(U) leader grew “upset” over the coalition’s reluctance to name him the convener of INDIA and had skipped the post-meeting press conference to register his protest.
On the other hand, Nitish had a meeting with his Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav in Patna on Friday, where the two are believed to have discussed seat-sharing among the partners, though RJD leaders said it was regarding the expansion of the Bihar cabinet.
Rahul, however, held a meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, probably on seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections. After the joint Opposition protests at Jantar Mantar, Rahul drove with Pawar to the latter’s 6 Janpath residence. The two leaders were closeted for some time and were learned to have discussed seat-sharing among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi partners Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP for the Lok Sabha elections.
Pawar is keen on accommodating smaller parties, such as the Left, Peasants and Workers Party, and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, in the Opposition alliance, as they have certain pockets of strength in the State. The NCP veteran is also eager to finalise seat-sharing in Maharashtra early so that joint rallies of the coalition could be organised for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.
Another challenge is from Punjab, where the ruling party AAP is unwilling to ally with the Congress — the party it routed in last year’s Assembly poll — to contest next year’s general election. Though the Samajwadi Party participated in the Opposition unity during the just concluded Winter Session, it will have differences with the Congress on seat-sharing.
With Bengal Congress leaders seeking 6-8 seats from the TMC in potential pre-poll alliance talks, the prospects of such collaboration are becoming increasingly uncertain. In the 2019 general elections, the TMC secured victory in 22 out of 42 seats, while the BJP, experiencing a meteoric rise, claimed 18 seats. The Congress, in contrast, managed only 2 seats, and the Left drew a blank for the first time since Independence.
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) leaders, including Adhir Chowdhury, Deepa Dasmunshi, AH Khan Chowdhury, and Shankar Malakar, have conveyed their demand for 6-8 seats to party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. While the TMC leadership remains tight-lipped about the PCC’s demand, a senior leader in the party indicates there is no intention of offering more than 2-3 seats to the Congress. The leader suggested that, given the current atmosphere, the Congress may struggle to retain even the two seats it won last time without TMC support.”
