Assembly Elections 2024: Congress' CEC meeting for Maharashtra, Jharkhand polls on Monday even as allies remain adamant

New Delhi: Amid allies playing hardball and with several differences on seat-sharing remaining unresolved, the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress will now meet on Monday to discuss candidates for poll-bound Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The previous plan to meet on Sunday did not materialise.

The scheduled meeting of the CEC, headed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, was postponed by a day as the draft list of Jharkhand constituencies and the candidates contesting from them, to be placed before the panel, had not being finalised, sources said.

The meeting will now be held on Monday evening and on Tuesday forenoon. With Priyanka Gandhi Vadra filing nominations on Wednesday and the Gandhis leaving for Wayanad a day before, the CEC meeting is likely to conclude on Tuesday itself.

The CEC deliberations, which will see the attendance of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and Karnataka Minister KJ George among others, comes as the last date of nomination for the first phase of Jharkhand ends on October 25 and four days later for the rest of the seats.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Maharashtra version of I.N.D.I.A, and the JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand are yet to finalise the seat-sharing arrangements in the two states with the poll partners engaged in some hard bargaining.

In Maharashtra, there is an understanding on 260 seats so far, while in Jharkhand, JMM and Congress will fight 70 out of 81 seats, leaving the rest for RJD and Left parties, who have, thus far, not agreed to the offer.

At the same time, there is no absolute clarity on the seats that Congress and JMM are fighting from.

Unlike in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh where it won, the Congress is yet to hit the campaign trail in both states and set the narrative.

In Jharkhand, sources said, the party is acknowledging that the battle is tough amid fears that anti-incumbency factors may impact the alliance’s prospects, as the BJP, which has already finalised an alliance with its NDA partners, is on the offensive.

In Congress circles, there is also the fear that the corruption allegations against Chief Minister Hemant Soren is a liability and that JMM won't be able to attract all the tribal votes, though it gets a sizeable chunk of Santhal votes. Former Jharkhand CM Champai Soren joining the BJP will also have an impact on poll results.

Sources said that the aggressive BJP campaign based on ‘Hindutva’ is not being countered by the Congress, which is being branded pro-Muslim in the state. The BJP has gone on a high-decibel rhetoric on 'illegal Bangladeshi migrants' settling in tribal areas.

They also said the BJP is using the continuance of a Kashmiri Muslim, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, as in-charge, and appointment of Tariq Anwar as a senior observer along with the corruption allegations against former Congress minister Alamgir Alam in their campaign against Congress.

In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday threatened not to participate in future discussions if Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole attends them, prompting party in-charge Ramesh Chennithala to rush to Mumbai to smoothen the troubles with the Uddav Thackeray-led party.

While Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) have reached a consensus on around 260 of the 288 seats, there is intense lobbying for the rest. These parties will also have to accommodate smaller parties like Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), Peasants and Workers Party, among others.

Congress is looking for 115-120 seats but sources have indicated that the final number will be around 105, in all likelihood.

Patole is still engaged in trying to drive a hard bargain with MVA allies though Congress' Haryana poll debacle has dented the party’s bargaining power.

Sources indicated that the Congress is more into its seat-sharing negotiations while not taking any proactive steps to build a cohesive campaign narrative and other electioneering measures. This comes even as the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP combine is working at tightening loose ends by addressing concerns of various caste groups in Maharashtra.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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