Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during an I.N.D.I.A meeting.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: It is not just Trinamool Congress but I.N.D.I.A. partners AAP, CPI(M) and CPI and a potential ally Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP) are all creating trouble for the Congress by fielding candidates against it in states like West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Trinamool extended its ‘non-cooperation’ movement from West Bengal, where it announced candidates for all 42 seats, to Meghalaya by announcing Zenith Sangma as its candidate for Tura seat. It is expected to announce 2-4 candidates for Assam in the coming days.
However, Trinamool has decided not to field a candidate in the second seat Shillong in Meghalaya where the Congress has its sitting MP, as well as Goa. Trinamool sources said that they are realistic about their chances of concentrating on one seat.
The move also comes as Congress is unlikely to field candidates in Trinamool’s strong seats in Bengal though leaders refuse to paint it as quid pro quo. Both parties are fiercely trying to protect their space with Congress likely to enter into a seat sharing arrangement with the Left Front in Bengal.
AAP has conceded to the Congress demand for leaving the Goa battlefield while it is fielding three candidates in Assam besides fighting against each other in Punjab. Both sides argue that the BJP is not a force in Punjab and by contesting together, they do not want to make it one.
Unlike Bengal, leaders said, there is no bad blood between AAP and Congress over fighting against each other.
In Rajasthan where the Congress was looking at an alliance with tribal parties and the CPI(M), the Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP) poured cold water by announcing a candidate for Banswara-Dungarpur seat where it is fielding its sitting MLA Rajkumar Roat.
Though Congress has so far not announced its candidate for the seat, it is upset over BAP unilaterally naming a candidate.
CPI(M) has announced Manoranjan Talukdar as its candidate for Assam’s Barpeta where the Congress is fielding Deep Bayan. It is also seeking a seat in Rajasthan as well as in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In states like Uttar Pradesh, CPI(M) will field a minimal number of candidates to register its presence.
CPI, which is fielding its national leader Annie Raja against Congress’s Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad where the Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF are fighting against each other, has also demanded seats from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Manipur from Congress. It also left the alliance in Jharkhand after it was denied a seat.
While the I.N.D.I.A partners have concluded their seat sharing arrangements in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the talks in Bihar are moving forward in a “positive manner” while it is stuck in Maharashtra with Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) wrangling for seats.
Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi also added to the trouble with some leaders blaming its “stubbornness” for the delay in announcing the alliance in Maharashtra.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge says changes can happen till the date of withdrawal of nominations and one should not read too much into the disagreements. However, allies accuse the Congress of delaying tactics as well as not listening to their grievances.