A situation of rift has arisen within the alliance since the Congress extended seat-sharing talks with its ally’s partner. However, after several meetings, no decision on seat-sharing has been made, and most of the parties seem unhappy with Congress.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) is likely to skip its INDIA bloc partner Congress-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra if the seat-sharing arrangement does not work out between the two.
TMC is unhappy with the ongoing seat-sharing talks with Congress, a government source said, adding that “the Party is likely to skip the yatra if their seat-sharing talks are not accomplished before January 27.
All is not well inside the I.N.D.I.A. bloc; a situation of rift has arisen within the alliance since the Congress extended seat-sharing talks with its ally’s partner. However, after several meetings, no decision on seat-sharing has been made, and most of the parties seem unhappy with Congress.
Congress-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra began on January 14 in Manipur, and it is likely to enter West Bengal by January 27 and will remain in the state for five days. However, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to the heads of all INDIA bloc parties and invited them to the yatra.
“We cannot participate in a Congress event without an electoral understanding in place,” a senior TMC leader said. Previously, on December 19, the party communicated to the Congress that it would be able to concede only two seats, an offer that the Congress finds unpalatable.
The Congress had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha poll with an electoral understanding with the Left Front and won two seats, cornering 5.67% of the total vote share. The Trinamool Congress argues that barring the two seats the Congress won, the party has less than four percent of the vote in the remaining seats. The Left Front has already refused to ally with the Trinamool.
However, the Congress yatra has also created a stir among the I.N.D.I.A. bloc since the alliance, after its formation on June 23 last year at Patna, could not organise a joint rally. With the Congress engaged with the yatra until March 20, the likelihood of such an event is very bleak, derailing the bloc’s efforts to create a unified narrative.
“We are losing very valuable time that should have otherwise been used to construct the bloc’s campaign. Unless we present an effective alternative programme, we can’t mount an impactful challenge,” a senior I.N.D.I.A. bloc leader said.