New Delhi [India]: Congress on Tuesday formed a five-member committee to engage in discussions regarding potential alliances with other political parties for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“In the run-up to the general election 2024, the Congress president has constituted a National Alliance Committee with immediate effect,” the party said in a statement.
The members of the National Alliance Committee include senior party leader Mukul Wasnik, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid and senior leader Mohan Prakash are also part of the National Alliance Committee.
Meanwhile, the fourth meeting of the ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc is underway in the national capital on Tuesday.
The meeting comes amid the political tensions escalating between the Opposition and the BJP-led central government over the demand of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement over the Parliament security breach.
An unprecedented number of MPs, a total of 141, were suspended from the Parliament.
On the prevailing situation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in the national capital to meet PM Modi, said, “The voices of the people have been choked. Let them suspend the House first. They have no moral right to run this House to suspend the opposition fully…They will run a mockery, nothing else. It is a mockery of democracy.”
“I think all will be together. There is an opportunity to discuss this seat-sharing) matter…Tomorrow is a great opportunity to discuss it in detail. The majority of political parties will agree to one-to-one seat sharing; maybe one or two may not agree…I don’t have any motto or vendetta to not walk with anybody,” West Bengal CM.
Responding to the delay in seat sharing in INDIA alliance, West Bengal CM said that “it s not late. Better late than never.”
The alliance, led by the Congress, took shape with the primary objective of mounting a combined challenge to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in next year’s general elections.
Seat-sharing for next year’s Lok Sabha elections is likely to figure prominently in the discussions at the huddle, according to sources.
Seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, which are just four months away, is likely to be at the top of the agenda for the next INDIA bloc meeting and will be crucial for the Congress, especially after its poll drubbing in the heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting happened in Mumbai on August 31-September 1.
In the Mumbai meeting, the opposition parties adopted resolutions to collectively contest the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections while announcing that seat-sharing arrangements would be finalized as soon as possible through a spirit of give-and-take.
