Rahul Gandhi Says Alliance Is 'Very Good' Amid Open Spats, Calls Seat-Sharing Simple Issue

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, said on January 16 that the I.N.D.I.A bloc is in good condition and that the seat-sharing talks between major parties are underway.

Amid reports of discord between the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rahul said that seat-sharing is "quite simple" and that it will be easily resolved.

"The status of the INDIA alliance is very good. We are in conversation with our partners. The issue of seat-sharing is being taken up. Those discussions are ongoing. I think they are going quite well," the MP said while in Nagaland, where his Yatra halted briefly.

#WATCH | Kohima, Nagaland | Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, "The status of the INDIA alliance is very good. We are in conversation with our partners. The issue of seat-sharing is being taken up. Those discussions are ongoing. I think they are going quite well. Let's see where… pic.twitter.com/miwiTRp77P

— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2024

"Let's see where those discussions end. But broadly, a lot of those are quite simple. They are not complex discussions and they are relatively easy discussions to have. So, I am quite confident that they will be resolved," he further said.

In the I.N.D.I.A bloc, the TMC and Congress are at loggerheads regarding seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. After the Congress party's poor performance in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) elections, TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee mocked the former for 'aiming for the stars' in West Bengal when they can't win "in their own backyard."

The Congress party's West Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury recently had an outburst over the TMC's two-seat offer in West Bengal out of 42 for the Lok Sabha polls.

"The true face of Mamata Banerjee is out. They are saying they are ready to give us two seats in Bengal. The seats in question are already with us. It is Mamata who needs Congress to win, not the other way around," Chowdhury said during a press conference earlier this month.

"The final decision on an alliance will be taken by the party high command," he further said.

Samajwadi Party chief (SP) Akhilesh Yadav is also miffed at the Congress and went as far as calling it a "chalu party." In order to ease the tensions, a meeting to discuss seat sharing between the two parties has been planned at Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik’s house in Delhi on January 17.