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More elections are on the horizon in this packed year. After Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana wrap up, Jharkhand and Maharashtra are lined up next.
On Saturday, the Congress said a coordination committee would soon be formed to discuss the seat-sharing formula with allies in Jharkhand.
The announcement was made by AICC secretary Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka, who is also the Jharkhand co-incharge.
“A coordination committee will be formed after discussions with our general secretary, who is coming to Jharkhand on Sunday. The committee will deal with the seat-sharing issue (for the polls),” he said.
He went on to add, “The committee will decide the seats with the JMM and other parties that would contest under the banner of the INDIA bloc. We want the seat-sharing arrangement to be a win-win situation for all the allies in order to win the Assembly polls,” he said.
The Jharkhand Assembly elections are scheduled to be held later this year. The Congress had contested 31 out of the 81 seats in the 2019 polls in alliance with the JMM and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) had contested 43 seats, while the RJD contested seven.
In Haryana, where Assembly polls are scheduled for October 5, alliance talks between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress seem to be shaky ground.
The AAP on Saturday warned that those who “underestimate” the party would “regret” it.
AAP national secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said during a press conference Friday that the party was ready to contest from all 90 seats in the Haryana elections with full force.
“We are fully prepared and waiting for the party’s order. As soon as we get the ‘go’ word, we will announce everything. We are prepared to fight the elections with full force on all the seats and those who underestimate us will themselves regret it in the future,” Pathak said.
The alliance talks between AAP and the Congress have hit an impasse over seat sharing.
In context: The Congress state leadership is said to be not willing to concede the specific seats sought by the AAP. Sources said the deadlock is not over the number of seats but rather the choice of seats.
While the Congress’s list of 32 Friday left out those seats said to be sought by the AAP – thus signalling that the Congress has not shut the doors entirely – a leader said it was up to “Rahul Gandhi to take the call”.
The seats the AAP is said to be seeking include Pehowa, Kalayat and Jind.
Sources in the AAP said the party was ready to contest as many as 50 seats if the alliance doesn’t come through, and could release a candidate list as early as Sunday.
In his first visit abroad as the Leader of the Opposition LoP, Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit the United States from September 8 to 10.
Gandhi will be in Dallas, Texas on September 8 and Washington DC on September 9 and 10. Gandhi will meet academics, journalists, representatives of think tanks, technocrats, businessmen and other people from the Indian diaspora and local community during his visit.
In Dallas, Gandhi will address a gathering of students, academicians and people from the community at the University of Texas. He will also meet some technocrats and have dinner with leaders from Dallas.
In May 2023, Gandhi went on a six-day, three-city tour of the United States where he interacted with the NRI community, business leaders and media persons. He had a range of such engagements in San Francisco, Washington DC and New York. During the visit, he spoke on the future of Indian democracy, freedom of speech, and sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
—- With PTI inputs
