New Delhi: In a major political move, the opposition alliance INDIA has identified around 400 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 543 in the country where a single candidate will be fielded against the BJP nominee, senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said on Saturday. “We have identified between 400-425 such Lok Sabha seats where we can put up an INDIA vs NDA fight. Our effort would be to field one single opposition alliance candidate on such seats against the BJP nominee,” Nirupam told ETV Bharat.
The Congress leader said that the formula does not apply for Uttar Pradesh yet. “Further, there are some states like Telangana and Odisha where the non-BJP parties are not with us. Hence, it may not be possible to put up a common candidate against the BJP there. Some smaller parties may field their candidates and a few Independents may also join the contest but that would be no problem for us,” he said.
The remarks from Sanjay Nirupam, a fire brand Congress leader from Mumbai who has been a former Lok Sabha MP and a former Mumbai unit chief, came days before the crucial 3rd INDIA alliance meeting to be held in Mumbai on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. Nirupam said that the INDIA bloc alliance is “solidifying” after the opening meetings in Patna and Bengaluru.
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The first one in Patna on June 23 marked the beginning and was attended by 16 parties. The second one in Bengaluru was attended by 26 parties and gave the alliance its name. “The Mumbai meeting will see an addition as a party of farmers organizations Kshetkari Sangathan has decided to support us. They have influence in pockets of Maharashtra but the groups’ support is welcome. It will send a good message to the other smaller parties across the country,” said Nirupam.
According to the Congress leader, an 11- member Coordination Committee for INDIA will be announced during the Mumbai meet to ensure that all communication between the alliance partners goes on smoothly. “The coordination committee will have leaders from several parties and will keep communication between the partners going.
This would be needed as a lot of consultations would take place over the coming days. As far as seat sharing is concerned, it will be state-centric and would have to be worked out,” he said. Nirupam said that in Maharashtra, the Congress-Shiv Sena UBT-NCP alliance is already functional which he said makes seat sharing an easy job.
“The BJP took away the MLAs of the Shiv Sena UBT and the NCP to grab power but the voters are still with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar. Together, the MVA has around 60 percent vote share and is in a position to win over 40 of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state,” said Nirupam. The Congress leader further said that as the INDIA alliance brings together diverse political parties, a process where the workers from different outfits can interact, share experiences and build trust, would be implemented over the coming days.
“Joint protests will have a greater impact. Yes, the workers of the parties come from different backgrounds but they can be brought together. Due processes would be followed to ensure that,” Nirupam added.
