"Congress Chief To Decide On Seat-Sharing": Ashok Gehlot Ahead Of Key Meet

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and member of the Congress's alliance committee Ashok Gehlot ahead of a major party meeting today spoke on seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

"The agenda was clear when Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge constituted our committee for the alliance. The committee decided on how the alliance must proceed and what our party leaders think."

"The first phase was completed in which discussions with our state leaders were held on what they think about Congress-ruled states", said Ashok Gehlot.

"At what level do we have to interact with leaders of other parties? How many seats do we have to give and take? Today, there will be a meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Congress chief Kharge. There will be a discussion on in which direction we have to proceed. Kharge ji will decide on whom to give responsibility and if to give it to some AICC workers officially", Ashok Gehlot added further.

"He will also decide on who will communicate, with which party, and at what level", Ashok Gehlot revealed.

However even as the Alliance committee works out details of prospective alliance within the INDIA bloc there appears to trouble on the horizon in several states. In West Bengal, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry questioned Mamata Banerjee after it was reported that the Trinamool Congress would give only two seats to the Congress in a potential Lok Sabha alliance.

"We won two seats on our own, we are not begging for these seats. On one hand, Mamata Banerjee says that the INDIA bloc will contest together and on the other hand there are such statements" Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry said.

In Punjab, Congress has been vehemently opposed to the AAP which is the ruling party in the state. Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on December 30 had lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann government accusing it of sub-par performance.

"In 2023 as well, the Punjab govt made false promises to the industrialists and entrepreneurs instead of working diligently to solve their issues. Consequently, the business community seems to have been reluctant to set up businesses in the state. The deteriorated law and order situation has caused one of the biggest threats to the entrepreneurs in the state. industrialists often complain about road and rail closures by the protests organised by the unemployed youth, irregular employees, and farmers' unions. The CM remained unsuccessful in redressing some genuine demands of these groups, which gives the impression that Punjab is not an appropriate state to establish business or industry," Mr Bajwa said in a post on X.

Notably, India's political landscape is undergoing a significant transition as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections draw near. INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) consortium is gearing up to challenge the established National Democratic Alliance. The bloc is struggling to resolve key challenges including finalising seat-sharing arrangements most importantly deciding on a PM face while the BJP has started executing strategies it laid off in 2023 to secure victory in general elections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)