Congress ‘Cares’ for Allies in Polls with Retreats

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Congress Faces Pushback from Allies in Assembly Polls

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, October 25: The Congress has seen pushback by allies in the state polls. Recent poll outcomes in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir appear to have cast a long shadow on the Congress.

The Congress by ceding space to the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra) may have even compromised post-poll stakes in Maharashtra. The Congress renunciation in Uttar Pradesh stunned the poll eagle eyes.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in contrast, is known to even eat away spaces of allies in states. The Congress’ lack of aggressive bargaining in states is now in the spotlight.

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In the 288 Assembly seats strong Maharashtra, the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra), and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) finally agreed for an 85-85-85 formula. The constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will work out seat division for remaining seats.

Maharashtra-based political observers see the see adjustment pact within the MVA as a giveaway by the Congress. The NCP (Sharadchandra) is counting the windfall gains per the local political observers.

The NCP (Sharadchandra) and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) are remnants of their erstwhile parent political outfits. The BJP had knifed the two parties into two vertical splits. Yet, the residual outfits bargained equality with the Congress in Maharashtra in the seat adjustment pact.

Mumbai-based observers argue that the Congress almost walked holding fingers of the NCP (Sharadchandra) strongman and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar in the seat adjustment pact. Now, the Congress may not even claim on the post of the chief minister if the MVA wins the polls. Any of the MVA constituent could emerge the largest political party from the bloc.

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The Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh was willing to give the Congress two Assembly seats in the byelections. The Congress announced to stay away from the byelections. Now, the SP will contest all the nine Assembly seats in UP bypolls.

The BJP on the other hand has ceded just one Assembly seat in UP for an alliance partner. The Congress was bargaining for more in UP, according the SP sources. “The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav took revenge on the Congress for not allowing space in the Haryana elections for his party,” said a senior party leader.

But the Congress has a position of respect in Jharkhand. In an 81-seat Assembly, the Congress is contesting in constituencies. The Congress had won a total of 16 Assembly seats in the 2019 state poll.

Incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has more respectful of the Congress than other allies. “The Congress holds the key to the government formation in Jharkhand. The state is known to throw fragile verdicts,” said a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) functionary.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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