Exclusive: “Has Congress woken up…?” Congress calls for INDIA meeting after routing in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh; No clarity if parties will attend, inside details

While the counting is still on but the trends and margins have made it clear that Congress has been decimated in the Hindi heartland. While Congress claimed they have wrestled well with the might of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but it is BJP that has wrested power from the grand old party in both Rajasthan and Chattisgarh while retaining saffron momentum in Madhya Pradesh.

INDIA - When parties came together

Congress meanwhile has called for the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on December 6 even though the other stake holders are yet to confirm their attendance. So far there has been four meetings, first one happened in Patna in June 2023. It was the opposition meeting at Bangalore in Karnataka in July when the name Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was derived– to take on the ruling NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Lok Sabha election 2024. The third meeting happened in Mumbai in September which was hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray and saw the attendance of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and chief ministers of five states. It was at this meeting parties decided to contest elections in Lok Sabha united and together "as far as possible"

INDIA - When doubts emerged

The fourth INDIA bloc meeting which also happened to be the first coordination committee meeting was held in New Delhi at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar in September. Coordination committee was decided upon at the Mumbai meeting. While seat sharing mechanism was expected to be derived at the coordination committee meeting, instead the meeting decided -

1: To start the process of determining seat sharing. “…member parties will hold talks and decide” seat sharing “at the earliest”.

2: The committee decided to hold joint public meetings in different parts of the country, first to be held in Bhopal in the first week of October

3: The committee also decided on names of TV anchors the INDIA bloc would boycott.

Interestingly since then there has been no progress in the INDIA alliance. The first joint public meeting never happened in Bhopal, the poll bound Madhya Pradesh. The elections were announced on October 9 and since then there has been neither a coordination committee meeting not any meeting between the leaders. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had openly criticised the role of Congress, claiming “Congress is so preoccupied with the assembly elections”, that has compromised with the future of the prospects of the alliance.

At the Mumbai chapter of the bloc meeting it was suggested by several parties seat sharing should be decided by September 30, something that hasn’t happened as yet. “Congress has seemingly conceded the 2024 election to BJP by intentionally leaving seat sharing unresolved”, said a senior leader of a regional party who was part of the meeting.

Sources, who had attended the Mumbai meeting claim that TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in presence of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had “vocally suggested finalising seat sharing, a comprehensive manifesto and a campaign committee by September 30”. His suggestions were accepted and echoed by other political parties including Aam Aadmi Party, RJD, DMK and Shiv Sena (UBT). According to multiple sources who confirmed to News The Truth, while most of the leaders had “emphasised the need to engage with National electorate, urging them not to wait for the state election results till December but Congress on the other hand was stuck with Adani and caste census, much to the dismay of others”.

Akhilesh Yadav Vs Congress

While Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had reached out to Nitish Kumar to placate him and assure of the alliance being intact but interestingly ahead of Madhya Pradesh elections, the first signs of chinks were visible as Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav called Congress a “chalu” party, accusing the grand old party of betraying him over sharing of seats in Madhya Pradesh. Samajwadi Party contested in 69 seats in Madhya Pradesh without any understanding or alliance with Congress. Akhilesh Yadav had expressed displeasure stating that he didn’t know that “alliance was only for Lok Sabha and there won’t be any understanding for state elections’. He had then called it ‘Dhoka’ (betrayal)

“Congress is a chalu party. Why didn’t they do caste census when they were in power. Today when they realise they have lost their conventional vote bank, now Congress wants the support of tribals and SC. Thus they are shouting for caste census. What happens to the alliance will be seen later”, Akhilesh Yadav had said in Jatara, MP during election campaigning.

Early trends indicate there are seats in Madhya Pradesh like Chandala where BJP candidate Ahirwar Dileep had taken lead ahead of congress that came in number two. But the combined votes of Congress and Samajwadi Party till the 15th round of counting was more than BJP.

Previously there has been face-off between AAP and Congress, TMC and Congress where both Trinamool Congress and AAP had openly denounced any possible big brotherly attitude of Congress within the alliance. “No one should behave like a Bigg Boss”, Mamata Banerjee had said in March 2023 after Akhilesh Yadav had met her in Kolkata.

Seat sharing remains as the unresolved issue till date and most of the parties hold Congress responsible for that. “Has Congress woken up? Congress waited till the state election results to gauge their bargaining capabilities with other parties. They possibly thought they could ask for more had they won Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. They think they know it all. If there’s level playing ground and Congress is more accommodating then there’s still scope but if they want to think only about themselves then the regional leaders and strong parties ruling the states may have to work out alternatives”, said one senior leader and MP who too is part of INDIA bloc coordination committee.

“Many of the leaders who are part of INDIA know congress and have been with Congress at some point. We look at the national outlook. Congress party has its own history and tradition. Definitely the leadership will lie with us” said D. K. Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka while interacting with News The Truth on November 25 in Hyderabad.

While Congress has won Telangana but has been routed in the Hindi heartland, embarrassingly. The December 6 INDIA meeting could be, thus, significant in terms of who all attend it and if it is able to resume the talks from where it was last left on September 13, 2023 and been silent since then.