Congress to Focus on 255 Seats in Upcoming Lok Sabha, Lowest Since Inception

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 13th Jan. The Congress leadership has told state units that the party will focus on 255 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This suggests that the party is open to contesting in fewer seats than in the 2019 national elections. The Congress has also announced that seat sharing talks with INDIA partners will begin immediately.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leader Rahul Gandhi, and AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal met with members of the party’s national alliance committee. The committee had extensive discussions with state units and submitted its report to the leadership. They have been given the go-ahead to start talks with INDIA bloc constituents.

Kharge stated in a separate meeting that the party will focus on 255 seats. This is seen as an indication that the party is willing to contest in fewer seats to accommodate INDIA alliance parties.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress contested in 421 seats and won 52. It was part of alliances in Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu. The party contested in only a fraction of the seats in these states. Seat sharing is expected to be challenging in states like Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress plans to hold talks with INDIA parties on a state-to-state basis. This means separate discussions with parties like AAP in Delhi and Punjab. The objective is to ensure that the INDIA alliance forms the government at the Centre.

The Congress will now initiate talks with alliance partners for seat sharing. The party has not set a deadline for the completion of this process. The manifesto committee, chaired by P Chidambaram, has also started its work. The party has instructed state units on the formation of social media and media war rooms.

Kharge has urged leaders to avoid making negative remarks about each other and to keep internal party matters out of the media. State units have been asked to begin the candidate selection process and provide the first list as soon as possible.