It was no totally different in Bihar, the place the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) introduced its seat sharing formulation for the state’s 40 seats Friday. Here too, the Congress didn’t get among the seats it was asking for. The largest setback was the RJD’s denial of the Purnia seat to the social gathering. The Congress, which contested the seat as a part of the RJD-led alliance in 2019, had sought the seat once more for former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who just lately merged his Jan Adhikar Party with the Congress amid fanfare.

Let alone Purnia, the RJD didn’t even concede Supaul, which was among the many seats that Pappu Yadav had on his wishlist as substitute for Purnia. Yadav’s spouse and AICC secretary Ranjeet Ranjan had represented the Supaul seat twice previously — in 2004 and 2014. She was within the fray in 2019 as nicely.

Then there was Begusarai, the place Kanhaiya Kumar was within the fray in 2019 because the CPI candidate. The Congress hoped to get the seat for Kumar, who joined the social gathering in 2021, however the RJD gave it to the CPI as soon as once more. The RJD additionally denied the Congress the Aurangabad seat, the place it wished to subject former governor and senior chief Nikhil Kumar. In 2019, the RJD had given the seat to Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha, which is now with the BJP.

The solely saving grace for the Congress was that after a lot hard-nosed negotiations, the RJD agreed to offer it 9 seats. The social gathering is after all upset, however didn’t need to push the RJD past a degree.

In Tamil Nadu, the DMK compelled the Congress to alter three of its seats, which it had gained in 2019 as a part of a DMK-led alliance. Sources mentioned the DMK initially wished to alter 4-5 of the Congress’s 2019 seats and candidates. After a lot negotiations, the Congress agreed to Tirunelveli, Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai, as substitute for Theni, Arani and Tiruchirappalli, of which it had gained Arani and Tiruchirappalli in 2019.

With the DMK taking away Arani, the Congress needed to shift its sitting MP M Ok Vishnu Prasad to Cuddalore. The swap additionally meant the social gathering couldn’t subject its former PCC president Su Thirunavukkarasar from Tiruchirappalli, which has now gone to the MDMK. Sources mentioned there was strain on the Congress to both swap the Karur seat, or change its candidate — sitting MP and Team Rahul member Jothi Mani — however the social gathering didn’t concede.

In Maharashtra, the Congress remains to be locked in a tussle with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). Neither of the regional companions are keen to concede a minimum of 4 of the seats the Congress is asking for — Sangli, Bhiwandi, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai North West.

In reality, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has already named its candidates for Sangli and Mumbai South Central, upsetting the Congress. Unlike in Tamil Nadu and Bihar, the Congress shouldn’t be a marginal participant in Maharashtra, however the social gathering’s central management is cautious of annoying the regional companions with a purpose to preserve the INDIA bloc united, though state leaders are insisting that the social gathering draw a agency line.

“The Congress central leadership has to be firm in protecting the interests of the party in the states. But the central leadership does not want to antagonise the regional parties as it is wary of the optics. If we push too hard, these parties would say that as the national party and the main opposition party, we are not showing a big heart. The expectation is that we have to make all the compromises. We may be marginal players in Tamil Nadu and Bihar, but that’s not the case in Maharashtra,” a celebration chief mentioned.

In UP too, the Congress was pushed to the sidelines by the SP. It first unilaterally introduced that seat sharing had been finalised, and that the Congress can be contesting 11 Lok Sabha seats within the state. The SP then went forward and introduced candidates in lots of seats that the Congress was looking for. It later raised the provide to 17 seats after the RLD left the INDIA bloc. But the Congress nonetheless didn’t get among the seats it had sought — together with Farrukhabad, Bhadohi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Shravasti and Jalaun — a few of which the social gathering had gained in 2009.