Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and JD(U) President Rajiv Ranjan Singh, in New Delhi on April 12, 2023. (PTI)
From Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal to Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, regional leaders feel the Congress should stick to seats it can definitely win and not muddy the waters by fielding candidates on all seats
If not now then when. And the opposition knows it. The idea of a joint candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is gaining weight in the fractured ranks, a perk uniting regional parties – should the Congress be left out of its seats.
From Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal to Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, regional leaders feel that the Congress should stick to the seats it can definitely win and not muddy the waters by fielding candidates on all seats. Arguments may matter to the high command, but state units need convincing and even persuasion.
A proposal for a joint candidate in the 2024 general elections with Bihar chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has arisen before June 12. Oppose Meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi on May 22 in Patna – the second such meeting in the last one-and-a-half months – Kumar is said to have insisted on an “all against one” strategy.
The idea gained momentum when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee supported it, congratulating the Congress for it. karnataka election win. The Trinamool Congress chief said, “The time has come for a united opposition candidate.”
Similar proposals had come to naught ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but this time, there is an in-principle agreement from most parties that have turf in states that make up large numbers in the Lok Sabha, such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Send MPs. , The biggest challenge will be a seat-sharing plan that is acceptable to all.
In West Bengal the TMC The Congress would not like to field candidates except those it can win, like Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary in its bastion Murshidabad.
Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party feels that the Congress will simply waste votes and it is best to stay out.
For Congress, the idea has limited appeal. It has made the same proposition in Amethi and Rae Bareli over the years, which is one of the reasons it won these Lok Sabha seats.
At a press conference in Mumbai, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said: “We are working on a proposal for an opposition candidate for at least 450 seats. It’s a work in progress.”
The biggest hurdle will be its own state units. Take the example of the recent ordinance on Delhi by the Centre. The idea of the opposition, including the Congress, favoring the Aam Aadmi Party against the BJP-led central government is not at all acceptable to the Punjab and Delhi units, which were wiped out by Arvind Kejriwal’s 10-year-old party. The sentiment was conveyed to the high command after a meeting of the Punjab and Delhi Congress units to discuss AAP’s support on the issue.
“We are absolutely against the idea of supporting AAP. Senior Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken recently told News18 that I have already made public the reasons why the ordinance should not be opposed.
Given its reaction to the ordinance, there is no reason to speculate whether the Delhi Congress will not field candidates against the AAP in the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital.
Self-interest has always trumped the larger interest, especially in politics. Will the ‘Joint Opposition Candidate’ be a non-starter in 2024 as well?
