All is not well in INDIA? Fresh tremors in INDIA bloc over seat-sharing

NEW DELHI: Miffed with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's hint for no compromise over seat-sharing talks within the INDIA bloc, Congress leader Milind Deora on Friday said the grand old party is the leading opposition in Maharashtra and no alliance can proceed without consultation with the local leadership of the state.

In a post on X, Deora said, "According to Sanjay Raut ji, despite the loss of its 40 MLAs @ShivSenaUBT_ remains the largest party in MVA. He suggests that @INCIndia should begin negotiations starting with zero seats. He is talking about the party which is the largest opposition party in the Maharashtra Assembly and is leading the opposition. I want to tell Mr. @rautsanjay61 that no alliance can proceed without consultation with the local leadership of Maharashtra. This idea is also supported and supported by AICC."

Deora made his remark on X while responding to a video of Sanjay Raut wherein he has asserted that their party is the biggest in Maharashtra, hinting at no compromise over seat-sharing talks.

"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, Mallikarjun Kharge, and KC Venugopal. We have always said that Shiv Sena has always been fighting on 23 seats in the Lok Sabha elections including Dadra and Nagar Haveli and that will be firm," Raut had said.

Prior to Shiv Sena (UBT), Mamata Banerjee on Thursday expressed her desire to test Bengal waters alone in the next year's Lok Sabha elections.

"INDIA alliance 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," Mamata said while she was speaking at a gathering in North 24 Parganas.

However, the Trinamool Congress supremo said that the INDIA alliance will contest on all seats across the country. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has been continuously saying that the BJP-led NDA will be defeated in next year's general elections by "PDA", which he defined as "Pichde (backward classes), Dalit and Alpasankhyak (minorities)".

"Removing BJP from Uttar Pradesh means withdrawal of BJP from the country. Defeat 80, remove BJP, and socialist people are working on this slogan. Only PDA will compete with NDA," Yadav said on Friday.

Meanwhile, Congress has said that talks on the agreement with all the parties will be held with an 'open mind'. Speaking to ANI on Monday, Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said, "Khule mann aur band muh se hi hum seat sharing pe baat aage chalaenge (We will carry forward seat-sharing talks with an open mind and refraining from public statements)."

The Congress leader added that different States would pose different challenges with regard to advancing seat-sharing talks and the discussions, hence, be held, taking all aspects into consideration.

"The seat-sharing talks are ongoing and will continue. We will do what needs to be done. There are different conditions and challenges in different States. We will be having discussions on seat sharing, keeping in mind the different (political) realities there," Ramesh said.

While the INDIA partners came together for their fourth meeting in the national capital recently, the major points of friction are over seat sharing in Bihar, Punjab, UP, and Bengal, with regional parties driving a hard bargain with the Congress.