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‘Can't have one-size-fits-all solution': Shashi Tharoor on seat-sharing formula amid Bihar crisis
Shashi Tharoor asserted that the ultimate objective of the INDIA bloc should be to defeat the BJP at the Centre and resolve the seat-sharing issues.
Amid the Bihar political uncertainties and spilt threats in several states, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said that every party in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) can't have the have a "one-size-fits-all solution", adding that seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is being discussed on a state-by-state basis.
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Speaking at a programme organised for public suggestions for the grand old party's manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Kolkata, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said the ultimate objective of the INDIA bloc should be to defeat the BJP at the Centre and resolve the seat-sharing issues as there was no single formula for seat sharing permutations in every state.
"This whole alliance and seat-sharing is being discussed on a state-by-state basis. No one is going to have a one-size-fits-all solution. In each state, the story is going to be different...I think we are all focused on the imperative need to change the Union government and that is the ultimate objective..." news agency ANI quoted Tharoor as saying.
Tharoor's comments came amid the political crisis in Bihar, with reports indicating that chief minister Nitish Kumar is set to dump his grand alliance and return to his old ally NDA on Sunday.
The 26-party opposition bloc is plagued by rift reports arising from Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and Haryana, and Janata Dal (United)'s Nitish Kumar in Bihar.
Reacting to Tharoor's statement, West Bengal BJP MP Dilip Ghosh said that Congress' situation will deteriorate further as no party is ready to compromise anywhere.
“Nobody is compromising anywhere. In Kerala, Congress and CPM are having a face-off. Akhilesh Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, and Mamata Banerjee are not willing to go with Congress. Even Nitish Kumar did not agree with them... Whoever joins hands with Congress is bound to lose... Neither anyone wants to come with them, nor is anyone ready to share seats with them. Congress' situation will deteriorate further,” he said to news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, the power tussle intensified in Bihar after reports said he would again join the BJP-led NDA alliance. If he does change sides, it will be his fourth such move in the past decade and the second this term. ANI reported that Kumar has sought time to meet Governor Rajendra Arlekar today by 12 noon.
Kumar had joined the Mahagathbandhan around 18 months ago. Earlier, the grand alliance suffered a setback after Mamata Banerjee and her Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, announced that they would contest solo in their respective states in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
