State polls done, Congress focus back on INDIA alliance for 2024

According to Congress insiders, work on the INDIA alliance had taken a backseat over the past two months as the grand old party focus shifted to the five Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. That process will be over with polling in Telangana on November 30. Results for all five states will be out on December 3. Reports ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi: As the five state elections come to a close on November 30, the Congress managers have shifted focus back towards pushing the opposition alliance INDIA to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

According to party insiders, work on the INDIA alliance had taken a backseat over the past two months as the Congress focus shifted to the five Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. That process will be over with polling in Telangana on November 30. Results for all five states will be out on December 3.

The winter session of Parliament will start a day later on December 4, in which a united opposition hopes to take on the Centre. According to party insiders, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha is expected to hold a strategy session with like-minded parties on December 4 morning but he has directed party managers to reach out to the alliance partners even before the results of the Assembly polls.

"It was natural to focus on the five state polls where we are an important player. This took our focus away from the INDIA alliance for a while but now it is time to take the alliance forward,” Congress Rajya Sabha deputy leader Pramod Tiwary told ETV Bharat.

According to Congress insiders, Kharge is aware that a slowdown in the opposition alliance work had made some allies uneasy and had led to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar publicly expressing a concern.

Also, the Samajwadi Party, which is the main player in Uttar Pradesh, was miffed with the Congress for not giving it seven Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.

"Elections or no elections, conversations between allies always keep happening. We will put up our demands and issues strongly in Parliament. The issues like unemployment, price rise, Chinese border incursions, crony capitalism, demeaning of constitutional institutions, misuse of agencies to target opposition leaders, demand for caste census will certainly be raised,” said Tiwary.

"(Mallikarjun) Kharge had spoken to Nitish Kumar over the phone to explain to him the party's involvement in the state polls and the Bihar CM got the point. Now, the allies will again be brought together. Everyone is keen to fight the 2024 elections together,” said a senior All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary.

He cited the recent utterances of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who shared his resolve to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and the coordination with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary. "We left the Bharatpur Assembly seat for the RLD candidate in Rajasthan and Jayant Chaudhary campaigned for us in Telangana," said the AICC functionary, adding that both Jayant Chaudhary and Akhilesh Yadav work closely in UP against the BJP and would be together with the congress for the 2024 battle.

According to party insiders, the strategy sessions that Kharge chairs during Parliament sessions are nothing but INDIA meetings in practice.

“Of course, a dedicated INDIA meeting will soon be held after consultations with the allies to take the alliance ahead, hold joint protests and work out common minimum agenda and seat-sharing,” said the AICC functionary.

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