Congress assures seat-sharing among INDIA bloc will be completed without any hurdle

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Ghulam Ahmad Mir, on Wednesday, said the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls would be completed without any 'hurdle.'

Adding to it, the senior Congress leader assured there would be a 'joint Opposition candidate against NDA on every seat.' Opposition leaders during the fourth three-hour-long meeting of the bloc, on Tuesday, said the alliance would finalise a seat-sharing arrangement by December 31. Mir added that the thinking among the alliance partners is that every party will get its due.

Mir, while addressing media persons in the Anantnag district in south Kashmir, stated that consultations for seat-sharing were on and would be done comfortably and there would be no hurdle in the same.

Mir said, "If any party in J-K is with the BJP, then they will be on one side and one candidate of INDIA alliance will be on the other. We will have only one candidate contesting on a seat so that the votes don't get divided and the people vote on one symbol only as only then will it be possible to bring a change in India in 2024."

When asked about Bihar CM Nitish Kumar being miffed with the proposal of Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge's name as PM face by the alliance, Mir said, "Kumar is the architect and initiator of the alliance and there is no such thing. The alliance is ready to fight the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) in 2024."

However, according to sources, Kumar held a meeting of JDU MPs over the matter indicating a clear rift over the alliance's PM face. “The meeting (of INDIA bloc) has been reduced to tea and biscuits … everyone wants that Nitish should become the Prime Minister," JDU MP Sunil Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Kharge himself reportedly told in the meeting that any decision on the Prime Minister's face would be taken post the results.

The reported clash erupted following Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener proposing Kharge's name for the opposition's Prime Ministerial face for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The duo floated the name during the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc held at the Ashoka Hotel. While MDMK leader Vaiko claimed that there was no opposition to that suggestion, Kharge stated that the PM issue should be discussed later.

Kharge said, “Will discuss the PM issue later; I work for the downtrodden. Let's win first, then we will see. I don't seek anything. For now, we have passed a resolution that the suspension of MPs is undemocratic."

He added, "We have passed a resolution that suspension is undemocratic. We will all have to fight to save democracy and all of us are ready to do that. We raised the issue of a security breach in the Parliament."

Speaking about the Supreme Court's recent verdict on Article 370, Mir, who is the former Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President said, "The Congress party accepts the Supreme Court verdict (on Article 370) as it is the highest court, but the requirement and the demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as of today is the protection of their rights to land, jobs and resources.

He added, "The Congress wanted to give these rights and it is clear that the BJP wants to take those away. The Congress is committed to providing these rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir." (with PTI inputs)