The Congress party’s defeat in the three Hindi heartland states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – appears to have sparked a wave of discontent among the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners. From skipping the December 6 meeting called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to INDIA bloc leaders upping the ante against Congress on the issue of seat-sharing and leadership face for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the poll results have been followed by Opposition leaders trying to put the Congress in the dock.
Opposition leaders, CMs skip INDIA meeting
As soon as the Congress called a meeting of the INDIA bloc on December 6, even while the counting of votes for the Assembly elections was underway on Sunday, several top Opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin conveyed they will skip the meeting.
In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she was not aware of the meeting date, and she had other plans, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not going to attend the event, later clarifying on Wednesday that he was sick and hence was unable to attend it.
As these developments took place, with so many leaders not attending the event, an embarrassed Congress later announced the meeting of heads of parties would now be held in the third week of December.
Gurdeep Sappal, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and coordinator of the Congress president’s office, said on X, “A coordination meeting of parliamentary party leaders of INDIA alliance will be held at 6 pm on December 6 at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.”
“Thereafter, a meeting of party presidents/heads of the INDIA alliance will be scheduled in the third week of December at a date convenient to all,” Sappal, who is also a member of the campaign committee of the alliance, said.
‘TMC should lead INDIA bloc’
As this went on, Trinamool Congress General Secretary Kunal Ghosh went a step ahead and took a dig at the Congress on Sunday and said that his party, the Trinamool Congress, should lead the Opposition bloc. In a post on X, in Bangla, Ghosh said that the results of the Assembly elections were “more about the Congress’ failure than the BJP’s success”.
“All other parties have replicated Mamata Banerjee’s schemes to win elections in other states,” Ghosh said. “These elections will not have an impact on the Lok Sabha polls. The combined force of the INDIA bloc will prevail.”
“Trinamool Congress is the party which needs to be in the leadership [of the INDIA bloc] to defeat the BJP at the national level,” he added.
‘UP Congress a divided house on INDIA’
In Uttar Pradesh, as the newly formed Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee held its first meeting in Lucknow on Tuesday, it was a divided house. While some office-bearers were of the view that the Congress must judge well when it comes to seat-sharing, some were of the view that the party should go alone given the fact that it was a parliamentary and not a state poll.
A party functionary who had attended the meeting told The Indian Express that the Congress had benefited in 2009 while going alone despite being offered an alliance by then Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. Some office-bearers, especially those from West Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, strongly advocated an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
‘Congress should re-think strategy’: Sanjay Raut
In Maharashtra, as soon as the results were declared on Sunday giving the BJP a majority in three states, including Madhya Pradesh, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut also attacked the Congress party saying that outcome of the elections would have been different had the Congress shared some seats with constituents of the INDIA bloc. He also demanded that Congress should rethink its strategy and outlook towards the allies.
“It is my clear opinion that the Madhya Pradesh elections should have been contested as INDIA alliance. Had some seats been shared with the alliance parties, such as Akhilesh’s party, (Samajwadi Party), the Congress would have fared far better. His (Akhilesh’s) party has good support in some areas, including some 10-12 seats known as the strongholds of the party. It was Kamal Nath who opposed sharing of seats with him (Akhilesh),” he told reporters.
Raut, however, added that the election results would not cause any rift among members of the INDIA bloc.
‘Congress could not understand ground reality’: Omar Abdullah
Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah too expressed his concern about the future of INDIA bloc saying that if the situation continues to be like this in future, the opposition alliance will not be able to win the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“I cannot say anything. The situation of the INDIA Alliance in the state elections, if the same continues in the future, then we will not be able to save ourselves…The Congress could not understand the ground situation in Madhya Pradesh. What would have they lost if they had given 5-7 seats to Akhilesh Yadav… They have lost anyway. It is possible that if Akhilesh Yadav was given a few seats, we could save ourselves a little in MP,” he had told reporters.