INDIA Bloc parties ready demands as Congress reaches out for seat- sharing talks

The INDIA bloc parties are gearing up for tough bargaining and extracting a substantial number of seats from the Congress as the coalition partners are set to initiate seat-sharing talks for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The INDIA bloc parties have readied their demands for seats across states as Congress' Mukul Wasnik-led national alliance committee has started reaching out to them. Following Congress' dismal show in the recent assembly elections in the three Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh, the partners have taken a more aggressive stance and are angling for a substantial number of LS seats.

In West Bengal, Congress faces a tough challenge - it cannot align with the Left Front without antagonising Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress. According to Trinamool sources, the party is willing to part with only two of the 42 seats for Congress. At present, Trinamool holds 22 seats, BJP 18 and Congress 2. The Left Front doesn't have any seats. Aligning with Banerjee would mean that Left Front would be pitted against Congress-Trinamool and contest all seats. Congress is likely to face a similar tough choice in Punjab, where it has to play ball with the ruling AAP. A senior AAP leader told ET, "Our problem is not Delhi or Haryana but Punjab. Our internal survey shows that we can win all 13 parliamentary segments. Congress needs to understand that we will win and contribute it to the INDIA kitty. Our intention is not to rock the boat." Congress has 8 MPs in Punjab and would want to contest all those seats. But AAP would not want to part with a single seat in the state. In Delhi, where it is in power, it is willing to part with 2-3 seats. "It is different in Delhi because neither party holds any parliamentary seat. But Congress would like to contest at least 2-3 seats," said a Congress leader.


All INDIA bloc parties, however, are taking a hardliners stand. Even the Left Front, which is hardly an electoral force in any state except Kerala, is expected to drive a tough bargain. The Left Front and the Congress will not have any alliance in Kerala but has a long list in other states. The CPI and CPM want a share in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana, Manipur, Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand and even UP.

CPI general secretary D Raja told ET, "Congress will have to be more accommodating. It will need to give up its big brother attitude."