NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress may have reached a temporary truce after a public spat over seat sharing in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, but there is a perception within the Opposition INDIA bloc that the grand old party is not accommodative enough of the regional parties.
Speaking to this newspaper about the Congress-SP spat, Janata Dal (United) leader K C Tyagi said, “The spat was unfortunate and the crisis will affect the INDIA bloc ahead of Parliament elections. There should be no infighting among constituents in the states.”
The SP has announced 33 candidates for the November 17 election to the 230-seat Assembly. The Congress announced candidates for 229 seats.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav accused the Congress of betrayal, saying the party had assured them six seats, but when its list was put out, there was nothing for the SP.
“Though the INDIA bloc was meant for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in the coordination committee meeting, Congress initiated talks with the SP for a few seats as it has some presence there. Somehow it fell through,” said Tyagi.
Countering the perception that the Congress is trying to play the role of a ‘big brother’, party leader and Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore said, “We are clear that the INDIA alliance is for 2024. However, some parties like the SP and AAP announced their candidates and talked about alliances. If somebody interprets it their own way, we are not responsible for it.”
“While 26 parties in the INDIA bloc have no issues with the Congress, only two parties are complaining,” Tagore said.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader P C Chacko said whether it is state or national elections, alliance partners have to follow coalition dharma and fight together.
“Coalition means every party should be accommodated as per their strength. In Kerala, a small party like NCP has a minister,” said Chacko adding that the Congress needs to be considerate of the aspirations of regional parties.
“In 2019, Rahul Gandhi did not take a realistic view, though AAP was ready to make amends,” he said of the spat between the two parties over alliance and seat sharing ahead of the 2019 elections.
Chacko also hinted that NCP chief Sharad Pawar may play the role of mediator later on.
Congress announces 43 more candidates for Rajasthan
The Congress on Sunday released its second list of 43 candidates for the November 25 Rajasthan assembly elections, fielding 35 sitting MLAs, including 15 state ministers, and former chief secretary Niranjan Arya.
The party has so far announced 76 candidates.
The first list of 33 candidates was released on Saturday.
Twenty state ministers find their names in the two lists.