Congress is the leading party with pan-India acceptance in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Despite this fact, Congress is finding it difficult to retain the seats which has been its first preference in an alliance. Be it in Bihar or Maharashtra, Congress has taken a backseat in the seat-sharing deal conceding its key seats to allies. While in Maharashtra, the party yielded key seats to Shiv Sena-UBT, in Bihar, it failed to retain the Purnia seat despite Pappu Yadav merging his party with the Congress. The grand old party is facing a dual problem – it’s conceding the strong seats to alliance partners and its leaders are getting upset with the party. 

Trouble For Congress In Maharashtra

In 2019, the united Shiv Sena had contested the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the BJP. The BJP had won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats. This included Mumbai seats as well. Now, Shiv Sena-UBT which won the Mumbai seats is not willing to leave the seats.  On the Mumbai North-West seat, Amol Kirtikar is the candidate of Sena-UBT while Sanjay Nirupam of Congress has been vying for the seat. Nirupam is upset with the seat going to Sena-UBT. Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam warned the Sena for taking an “extreme stand” and suggested that the Congress party’s alliance with them might prove to be “self-destructive.” From the Mumbai South Central seat, Sena-UBT has fielded Anil Desai while Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad also wanted to contest from the seat. From the Sangali sea, the Congres was planning to field Vishwajit Kadam but Sena-UBT fielded Chandrahar Patil. The NCP-SP is also demanding the Mumbai North East seat. 

राजनीति : महाराष्ट्र में सीट बंटवारे पर ‘महाभारत’! 3 सीटों पर उलझन…क्या करेगा गठबंधन?

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Pappu Yadav’s Purnia Bet

Recently, Pappu Yadav merged his Jan Adhikar Party with the Congress in the hope that he would get a ticket from Purnia Lok Sabha seat. However, after JDU leader Bima Bharti joined the RJD, trouble began for Yadav. Now, the RJD has fielded Bharti from the Purnia seat while Pappu Yadav is saying that leaving the Purnia seat means suicide for him. In Bihar as well, the INDIA bloc has failed to secure the seat-sharing deal.

The UBT Sena is fighting the Maharashtra polls in alliance with the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar) and the Congress. Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20.