Congress To Focus On 255 Seats In Upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, Begins Seat-Sharing Talks with INDI Alliance Partners

Under pressure from allies of the INDI Alliance bloc, the Congress leadership informed state units on Thursdays (4 January) that the party's focus will be on 255 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, indicating willingness to compete in fewer seats than in the 2019 national elections.

The announcement also included that discussions regarding seat sharing with INDIA partners would commence immediately.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leader Rahul Gandhi, and AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, held a meeting with the party's five-member national alliance committee.

This committee had been engaging in in-depth discussions with state units in recent days.

Following the submission of their report to the leadership, they received approval to commence discussions with constituents of the INDI Alliance bloc.

Kharge reportedly told a separate gathering of AICC general secretaries, state Congress presidents, state in-charges, and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders earlier in the day, that the party's focus would be on 255 seats.

The meeting was also attended by Rahul Gandhi.

This was interpreted by state leaders as a sign that the party was ready to run in fewer seats this time around to make room for parties of the INDI alliance.

During the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the party contested in 421 seats and emerged victorious in 52.

The Congress formed alliances in several states such as Bihar with the RJD, Maharashtra with the NCP, Karnataka with the JD(S), Jharkhand with the JMM, and Tamil Nadu with the DMK.

As a result, it only contested in nine of Bihar's 40 seats, seven of Jharkhand's 14 seats, 21 of Karnataka's 28 seats, 25 of Maharashtra's 48 seats, and nine of Tamil Nadu's 39 seats. They also ran in 70 out of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress is aware that there will be significant challenges with seat sharing in certain states, notably Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.

The AAP has indicated its readiness to form a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress in Punjab, however, the local Congress unit views any alliance with the AAP, currently in power in the state, as potentially disastrous.

Similar resistance is seen in the Bengal unit against any partnership with the Trinamool Congress.

In UP, the Samajwadi Party has shown intentions to contest in 65 seats, allocating a mere 15 for the Congress and the RLD.

The party has resolved to engage in discussions with parties in INDI Alliance on a state-by-state level.

This implies that the Congress will negotiate separately with the AAP on the distribution of seats in Delhi and Punjab, as well as in states such as Gujarat and Haryana, where the party led by Arvind Kejriwal claims to have some sway.

This principle will also be applicable to the Left and any other parties that wish to compete in multiple states under the INDI Alliance banner.

Leaders of the party have announced plans to reach out to their alliance partners to discuss seat sharing arrangements. However, they have not established a definitive timeline for this process.

The Congress' manifesto committee, led by former finance minister P Chidambaram, has begun preparations for the upcoming polls with its first meeting on Thursday.

In this initial meeting, only preliminary discussions were held, with further meetings planned for the next week.