Sanjay Raut: Congress Must Own Up If INDIA Bloc Appears to Be Falling Apart
Sanjay Raut emphasizes Congress’s role in maintaining the INDIA bloc’s unity amid concerns from allies
Sanjay Raut, Congress, INDIA Bloc, Maharashtra, Omar Abdullah, Delhi Elections
Mumbai: So, Sanjay Raut from Shiv Sena (UBT) recently pointed out that it’s really up to Congress to keep the INDIA bloc together. He believes they should take the lead since they’re the biggest party in the opposition.
His comments came after Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, expressed some frustration about the unclear leadership and goals of the INDIA bloc. Abdullah even suggested that if the alliance is just for the 2024 elections, maybe it should just wrap up.
Raut made it clear that if the partners think the INDIA bloc is only for the Lok Sabha elections and isn’t functioning now, then Congress should take the blame. He mentioned that there’s been a lack of communication and dialogue among the parties, which is concerning.
He stressed that they had a good run in the Lok Sabha elections together, so there should have been a meeting to discuss future plans. Raut believes it’s Congress’s job to initiate that conversation.
He also pointed out that the lack of communication is creating confusion among the allies, making it seem like things aren’t going well within the bloc, which has over two dozen parties.
Raut warned that if the alliance falls apart, it might not be able to come back together. He said if it’s just for the Lok Sabha elections, then they should just declare it’s over, and everyone can go their own way.
He mentioned that the INDIA bloc was formed for the Lok Sabha elections, but Congress needs to step up and keep everyone united. He believes they need to fix past mistakes, as dissolving the alliance would be a drastic move.
Raut also recalled how, during the Maharashtra assembly polls last November, Congress didn’t step in when its state unit was being tough during seat-sharing talks.
He noted that there were several assembly seats where the NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) had strong candidates, but Congress held onto its claims instead of working together for a better seat-sharing deal.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Congress, didn’t do well in the last assembly elections, winning only 46 out of 288 seats.
Raut pointed out that just like at the national level, there’s been no coordination among the MVA parties in Maharashtra either.
He also disagreed with some Congress leaders who labeled AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal as “anti-national.” Raut believes that in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, it won’t be Congress or BJP winning; it’ll be AAP.
Interestingly, both Congress and AAP, who are part of the INDIA bloc, are running separately in the Delhi elections. Raut mentioned it would have been better if they teamed up, but they’re still figuring out their strategy.
Some Congress leaders, like Nitin Raut, acknowledged that the MVA partners had issues over the Chief Minister position before the polls and took too long to finalize seat-sharing.
They admitted they neglected proper planning after the Lok Sabha elections, which hurt their chances in the assembly polls.
Another Congress leader, Vijay Wadettiwar, echoed these sentiments and even suggested there might have been a delay tactic in the seat-sharing talks among MVA partners.
He pointed out that they wasted valuable time that could have been used for campaigning. NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad also agreed that coordination was lacking in the MVA.
Raut clarified that Wadettiwar was indeed part of the seat-sharing discussions and that Congress could have let go of some seats where their allies had strong candidates.
Omar Abdullah, speaking in Jammu, mentioned that the AAP, Congress, and other parties need to figure out how to effectively challenge the BJP after the Delhi assembly elections.
He suggested that if the INDIA alliance was only for parliamentary elections, it should be disbanded, but if it’s meant for assembly elections too, they need to work together.
Interestingly, Omar’s father, Farooq Abdullah, who leads the National Conference, believes the INDIA bloc is a permanent political entity.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)