The lead proposers of the Patna Opposition party meeting, which includes the Janata Dal United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), have reportedly compiled an extensive report on all the parties’ performance in the last three elections. This includes both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, along with the respective vote shares. The purpose of this report is to determine the allocation of tickets for united Opposition candidates against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
According to a RJD leader speaking to The Pioneer over the phone from Patna, the research team has prepared the report for discussion during the meeting on June 23. However, the leader emphasised that the report is not meant to be imposed as a formula for seat sharing. Instead, it will serve as a blueprint for the discussion among Opposition leaders. Sources within the Congress party stated that the alliance members of the Bihar Government, which includes the Congress, are working diligently to avoid any disputes over seat sharing between regional parties and the Congress. This issue arises particularly in States like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab, where seat sharing between Congress and regional allies such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be challenging.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, who will be attending the meeting, stressed the importance of political parties shedding their egos if they genuinely desire to take on Prime Minister Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Other prominent leaders scheduled to participate in the Patna meet include Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah, and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray among others. Speculation suggests that the Congress party aims to claim at least 350 seats across the country, including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Delhi, where regional allies like the TMC, JMM, AAP, and the RJD-JD(U) hold more significant vote shares than the Congress.
Based on the formula being considered, JD(U) could expect to secure a fair number of Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, as the RJD failed to win a single seat in the 2019 polls, despite performing better than the JD(U) in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly polls. In 2019, the JD(U), as a constituent of the NDA, won 16 Lok Sabha seats. But during 2020 Assembly polls, it could only secure 43 seats, while RJD, then in Opposition as part of the Mahagathbandhan, won 75 seats, and Congress got 19 legislative Assembly seats.