On 19th December, the opposition parties during the fourth meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc asserted that they would finalise the seat-sharing formulas at the earliest. However, days after the meeting, three major alliance partners – Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, and Shiv Sena (UBT) have staked their claims over all or majority of the seats in the states where they have substantive presence.
They have argued that while the I.N.D.I.A. bloc should contest together nationally, they will not leave space for I.N.D.I.A. alliance partners particularly Congress in these states.
West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee asserts that only TMC can fight BJP in the state
On Thursday (28th December), Mamata Banerjee declared that her party All India Trinamool Congress would fight alone in West Bengal for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, however claiming that the INDIA bloc would be present nationally.
She had said, “I.N.D.I.A. bloc will be there across the country. In Bengal, the TMC will fight and defeat the BJP. Remember, in Bengal, only TMC can teach a lesson to the BJP and not any other party.”
Her statements were a clear indication that there would be no seat-sharing for I.N.D.I.A. bloc partners Congress and the Left in the state.
Last time, Congress and TMC had contested separately on all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 General elections. While the state Congress leadership had raised voices to have a seat-sharing formula with CPI(M), the party’s central leadership decided against it and went to the polls alone.
Punjab: Arvind Kejriwal says AAP wants to contest all 13 seats in the state
Earlier on 17th December, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s chief and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, expressed his desire to contest all thirteen Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and one Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.
During a public meeting in Bathinda, Punjab, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Arvind Kejriwal said, “There are 13 seats in Punjab and one seat in Chandigarh. My heart says the way people are getting benefitted; you should give all 13 seats to us and make us strong.”
In fact, Congress and AAP had been face-to-face over seat sharing in the state. On 12th December, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that his party would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. Furthermore, he added that the high command had not given any instructions for contesting the upcoming General elections in any alliance.
On 14th December, AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said, “While the party high command’s final decision is to be taken, we are already preparing in all 13 Lok Sabha constituencies. The Chief Minister had declared in the Hoshiarpur rally that we will contest in all 13 seats.”
Maharashtra: War of words ensuing between leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Congress
In Maharashtra, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc partners have been embroiled in a war of words over the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s demand to contest 23 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut argued that their I.N.D.I. Alliance partner Congress would have to start with zero while they have been fighting on 23 seats in Lok Sabha adding that state leaders giving comments over the seat-sharing formula doesn’t matter.
He said, “…This is Maharashtra and Shiv Sena is the biggest party here. Congress is a national party… Uddhav Thackeray is having positive discussions with the decision-making leaders of Congress including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge. We have always said that Shiv Sena has always been fighting on 23 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and during our (I.N.D.I.A. alliance) meeting, we decided that discussions will be done later on the seats that we have won. Congress did not win a seat in Maharashtra so they have to start from zero (seats) but Congress is an important ally for us in MVA…”
However, his assertion about Congress didn’t go well with the state leadership of the Congress party. Hours after the Uddhav Sena faction aired their demand, Congress leaders slammed the UBT leaders asking ‘What will they (Shiv Sena UBT) do with the seats?’
Maharashtra Congress leader Milind Deora reminded his alliance partner that no alliance can proceed without consultation with the local leadership of Maharashtra.
According to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc ought to prevent conflicts over winning seats. He also claimed that after the vertical split in the original Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray’s faction didn’t have enough candidates to field on these seats.
He said, “The Shiv Sena may demand 23 seats, but what will they do with them? The Shiv Sena’s leaders have left, resulting in a crisis. Shiv Sena faces a candidate shortage.”
Further, Former Chief Minister and senior Maharashtra Congress leader Ashok Chavan termed Shiv Sena (UBT) demand “excessive” and argued that there was a need for adjustment among the parties.
He said, “While every party desires a larger share of seats, the demand for 23 seats by the Shiv Sena was excessive given the current circumstances.”
Last time, in the 2019 Lok Sabha General elections, Congress and NCP had fought together against the alliance of Shiv Sena and BJP on 48 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs in the state.
Furthermore, as per reports, the Congress party could face similar seat-sharing hurdles in many more states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
The rifts in alliance partners and the failure of four meetings of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc to achieve material gain followed by these announcements rejecting seats for alliance partners have given strength to JDU MP Sunil Kumar Pintu’s remark who had dubbed the fourth alliance meeting a grand failure.
According to him, the meetings were a place to have chai and samosas but last time the alliance partners failed on that aspect as well and the meeting went inconclusive with no Samosas offered for its participants either.
