The Congress is likely to begin seat-sharing talks with other constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) from early January, after its five-member National Alliance Committee completes discussions with all state units of the party and submits a report on the prospects of poll pacts to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior party leader said.
The committee, which was formed last week and is headed by former Union minister Mukul Wasnik, has already begun discussions with all state Congress units to discuss the possibilities and seat adjustments with INDIA partners, the leader said on condition of anonymity.
Discussions with Maharashtra, West Bengal and a few other state units are already over, the leader added.
“The national alliance committee will give its report to the Congress president in the next two to three days. After that, the seat talks with allies will begin,” the leader said.
The leader also suggested that Kharge might ask the alliance committee or appoint a group of senior leaders to talk to the INDIA bloc allies.
The seat talks were the focus of the INDIA group’s recent meeting in Delhi on December 19. A number of leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, have been seeking early discussions on seat sharing. During the Mumbai meeting in August-September, the alliance had resolved to begin seat talks at the earliest.
Some of the 28-party INDIA partners have blamed the Congress for delay in the seat-sharing talks, by waiting for the conclusion of the assembly elections in five states, results of which were announced on December 3.
Congress functionaries said while equations with the party’s allies may differ across states, the final call on an alliance will be taken from a “national perspective”.