New Delhi: The Congress party has started the process of seat-sharing with its allies in the INDIA bloc, a 28-party opposition coalition that aims to challenge the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to sources, the party has instructed its senior leaders to initiate talks with other leaders of the alliance and some discussions have already begun. The sources also said that formal negotiations for seat-sharing with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and Delhi will commence on Monday.

The party has formed a five-member committee on seat-sharing, headed by Mukul Wasnik and comprising of Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and other senior leaders. The committee has conducted internal consultations with state Congress chiefs and submitted its report to party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The seat-sharing talks with other parties follow the decision of the INDIA bloc to field a single opposition candidate in each Lok Sabha seat against the BJP, in order to maximise the chances of defeating it in 2024. The sources said that Kharge has delegated the responsibility of working on seat distribution with other parties to senior leaders, including the members of the seat-sharing committee.

The Congress has already forged pre-poll alliances with parties like the DMK in Tamil Nadu, RJD and JDU in Bihar, JMM in Jharkhand and others in Assam, but it faces challenges in striking deals with some major parties in key states.

Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi And Punjab Pose Difficulties

The most difficult states for the Congress to have seat-sharing arrangements with INDIA bloc partners are Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi and Punjab, where the party insiders admit the complexity of the situation. In West Bengal, the TMC and the Left, despite being part of the opposition alliance, are not willing to have any understanding with each other and the Congress will have to choose one of them.

The recent statements of TMC leaders and Congress PCC chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have also dampened the prospects of a possible partnership between the two parties in the state. In Kerala, the Congress has 19 of the 20 MPs from the state and having an arrangement with the CPI-M seems unlikely as it would mean sacrificing its sitting MPs.

In Punjab, both the AAP and the Congress are confident of their victory and do not want to have any alliance. State Congress units of other states like Kerala have also opposed any seat-sharing, the sources said.

Congress-Samajwadi Party Rift In Uttar Pradesh

The relations between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh are also strained, as evident from the recent statements of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who is unhappy with the Congress for not giving him any seats in the recent Madhya Pradesh assembly election and for the remarks of Kamal Nath against him.

However, the Congress is holding seat-sharing talks with all partners while hoping to find some middle ground in order to strengthen the opposition against the BJP.

The sources added that the party has decided to complete the seat-sharing arrangements with other parties of the opposition by the end of this month.

INDIA Bloc May Pick A Convener Soon

Congress president Kharge had said on Saturday that leaders of INDIA parties would take a decision within 10-15 days on the allocation of posts in the opposition bloc, amid speculation that the alliance could pick a convener before the Lok Sabha elections. He also said that all other matters, including seat-sharing of the INDIA bloc, would be resolved soon, with party sources indicating that this is likely to be done by the month-end.

Kharge said that the Congress is working on all the 545 Lok Sabha constituencies and has appointed observers for all the seats, but the final decision on which party will contest which seat and how many will be taken after consultations with all constituents of the opposition alliance. Asked how many seats the party would contest, he said, “We have already finalised parliamentary observers for all the constituencies… We will go and assess in each Parliamentary constituency.”