Cong begins seat-sharing talks with INDIA bloc constituents
Lok Sabha elections. Sources said senior leaders of the party have been told to reach out to other leaders of the alliance and talks with some parties have begun.
Formal negotiations for seat-sharing with Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and Delhi will begin on Monday, the sources added.
The Congress' five-member committee on seat-sharing — which has Mukul Wasnik as convener and senior leaders Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel among members — has already held internal consultations with state Congress chiefs and handed over its findings to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
The seat-sharing talks with other parties come after the 28-party opposition grouping decided to unitedly take on the BJP in upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The INDIA bloc has agreed to have a single opposition candidate in Lok Sabha election seats against the BJP in a bid to defeat it in 2024.
The sources said Congress president Kharge has entrusted the responsibility to senior leaders, which also include members of the seat-sharing committee, to work on seat distribution with other parties.
The Congress has pre-poll alliances with parties like the DMK in Tamil Nadu, RJD and JDU in Bihar, JMM in Jharkhand and others in Assam, but has no tie-up with some main parties in key states.
The most contentious of these include Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi and Punjab, where the difficulty of having seat-sharing arrangements with INDIA bloc partners is well acknowledged by party insiders.
