The congress party's electoral thrashing in the hindi heartland states in the most recent round of assembly elections has backfired on its strategy of deferring seat-sharing talks with other india bloc members for the upcoming lok sabha elections, with even its leadership of the Opposition alliance in the making being called into question.

The bloc's non-Congress constituents are enraged by the Congress's delay in seat talks, and some have begun to question whether the congress is the coalition's "weakest link" – especially given its performance in the three states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and madhya pradesh, all of which are direct contests with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

For the last three months, there has been little headway in efforts to build and structure the Opposition alliance against the BJP. The congress not only stalled seat-sharing talks in expectation of a strong showing in the upcoming round of assembly elections, which may give it an edge in any negotiations, but it also refused to enter into any significant seat-sharing agreements with opposition parties in the three states.

After a long hiatus, congress president mallikarjun Kharge has scheduled a meeting of the bloc on december 6th. The most recent coordination meeting was held on september 13. Opposition parties are challenging the Congress' capacity to compete with the bjp and have urged that it enable regional parties to rule in their states.

"The congress should leave it to regional parties to take the lead against the bjp," said a senior trinamool congress politician who did not want to be identified. While the trinamool congress, DMK, AAP, JD(U), and RJD have frequently defeated the BJP's electoral gains, the congress has failed to do so." There was also criticism of congress for the delay.

"We were repeatedly telling the congress to quickly finalise the candidates," claimed another Opposition politician, who did not want to be identified. The mumbai decision further said that ticket distribution should take place as soon as possible. However, congress postponed it." His allusion is to the bloc's september 1 summit in mumbai, where it was determined to commence seat-sharing discussions as soon as possible.

Opposition leaders also pointed out that while the first joint meeting of the allies was scheduled on october 2 in Bhopal, Congress' madhya pradesh president kamal nath cancelled it.

"The congress thought they'd arm twist us after the elections," another Opposition politician joked under the condition of anonymity.
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SIBY JEYYA

04/12/2023 07:29 AM