INDIA leaders push Cong on seat talks

At least two members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Monday asked the Congress to immediately start seat-sharing talks for the 2024 elections as constituents of the Opposition bloc mounted pressure and insisted that proceedings in the ongoing winter session not be disrupted on any issue to allow participation in debates.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

A day after the Congress suffered an electoral drubbing in India's heartland, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the lack of seat-sharing arrangements for the losses, and said it was a defeat of the Congress, not a disaster for the larger Opposition. Her comments come at a time when the alliance faces an existential cris even before fully taking shape as a result of Sunday's verdict.

"Look at the figures. BJP won by thin margins. It happened because of split in (Opposition) votes. There should have been proper seat sharing," Banerjee said.

"The results have come, and arrogance has ended," said Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, who had spoken out against the lack of a pact during the Madhya Pradesh election campaign.

In the evening, the Congress announced it had called an informal meeting of the INDIA bloc on December 6 and said the party wanted to "fully participate in the debates in both Houses". Opposition parties have also demanded a debate on the economic situation.

Ahead of the winter session which commenced on Monday morning, the Opposition convened a meeting where the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded that talks on seat-sharing, which were delayed by the assembly elections, start immediately. Another key ally, the SP, didn't attend the meeting called by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Congress lost its governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and failed to dislodge the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. Though the party won Telangana, its dismal head-to-head record against the BJP cast a long shadow on the grand old party's ability to put up a credible fight against the BJP in the Hindi belt, and effectively relegated it to southern India.