New Delhi: The Congress will hold seat-sharing talks with its INDIA allies on 7 and 9 January, party leader Bhupesh Baghel said Friday.
The former Chhattisgarh chief minister, who is a member of the Congress’s seat-sharing committee, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge had directed the panel to start talking with alliance partners in states where the opposition bloc was going for a coalition.
The meetings would continue beyond 9 January, he added.
After constant reminders from INDIA partners over seat-sharing, the Congress has finally begun the exercise, reaching out to state allies. It is understood that they want to tie up a majority of the plans before Rahil Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ that begins on 14 January.
VIDEO | “(Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge has directed us begin talks with parties with whom we are in alliance in various states. In this regard, the first meeting is on January 7 and second on January 9. A series of meetings will be held now,” says former Chhattisgarh CM… pic.twitter.com/CnTI4bCqMt
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 5, 2024
The Congress held discussions on seat-sharing in a meeting Thursday evening at the party headquarters in Delhi. Another was held in Rahul Gandhi’s home later where the committee on seat-sharing — the National Grand Alliance Committee — was present.
The panel is headed by Mukul Wasnik, and the other members are former CMs Baghel and Ashok Gehlot, leaders Mohan Prakash and Salman Khurshid.
At a press briefing after the meetings, Wasnik said Thursday that the seat-sharing process would be given top priority. “We will look at the convenience and availability of various parties and then proceed with the discussions,” he added.
He also said it was important that discussions were held state-wise because there was “a unique situation in each state”.
The Trinamool Congress has been pushing for a formula to be finalised as soon as possible. In the last meeting of the bloc on 19 December, the West Bengal ruling party had set a deadline of 31 December.
An unidentified TMC leader was quoted by news agency PTI as saying: “We are big hearted, we are committed to the INDIA alliance. It seems they want a few more days to sort this out.”
One formula proposed by the party is that candidates be finalised for a seat on the basis of the vote share his or her party garnered in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections, or both.
No standard formula has, however, been finalised.
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