Akhilesh Yadav skips INDIA bloc meet: Is he avoiding Congress seat-sharing talks?

Leaders of all the parties associated with the INDIA bloc will gather in Delhi on September 30 for a major meeting. Big decisions are expected to be taken against Gyanesh Kumar.

Following the deletion of names of more than 13 crore people in the SIR and the turmoil within the Election Commission, leaders ranging from Mamata Banerjee to Uddhav Thackeray are expected to work out their strategy against Gyanesh Kumar and the central government.

But Akhilesh Yadav has stayed away from this crucial meeting. Akhilesh Yadav has announced that he will not attend the meeting and that a party leader will represent the Samajwadi Party instead.

But one of his announcements has set alarm bells ringing in the Congress.

According to the party, Akhilesh Yadav will be busy with the Rajya Sabha elections, with several meetings on the selection of candidates scheduled to take place.

However, party insiders say that Akhilesh Yadav currently wants to avoid a face-to-face meeting with the Congress top leadership.

If Akhilesh Yadav, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are seen together, the discussion will inevitably turn to seat-sharing and the ongoing tussle between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.

The Congress party has been consistently putting pressure on the Samajwadi Party over seat-sharing, demanding that the number of seats and the specific constituencies to be contested by the Congress and the SP be finalised as soon as possible. The Congress believes that any delay will cause it significant losses.

Akhilesh Yadav, however, wants to avoid any such discussion for now. He is not in a hurry to finalise seat-sharing. It is being suggested that his decision to stay away from the INDIA bloc meeting is, for the time being, linked to his desire to stay away from seat-sharing talks.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav has revealed that he has spoken to Mallikarjun Kharge. This indicates that the Congress is now putting pressure on the SP even at the top leadership level to settle the seat-sharing issue.

There is speculation that Akhilesh Yadav could meet Mallikarjun Kharge in the first week of October. However, Akhilesh Yadav appears to be extremely cautious about the Congress and wants to avoid any discussion on seat-sharing for now.

Akhilesh Yadav's strategy appears to be to delay discussions on the alliance and seat-sharing for as long as possible because once formal meetings on seat-sharing begin, the Congress could build greater pressure.

Meanwhile, the Congress party continues to put pressure on the Samajwadi Party over seat-sharing. Imran Masood, too, has been putting considerable pressure on the SP on the issue.

Akhilesh Yadav had to say at a press conference that, just as the BJP appears to be fighting from the outside but is united internally with its allies, something similar is happening between the SP and the Congress — they may appear to be saying different things publicly, but internally, the two parties are together.

The Samajwadi Party wants the Congress to first identify its winnable candidates and the seats where it has a strong organisational presence and can contest on its own. Only after that, it wants discussions on further seat-sharing.

The Congress, meanwhile, believes that if the seat-sharing issue continues for another month or two, it may no longer be able to negotiate an alliance with another party. In that situation, Akhilesh Yadav could negotiate an alliance with the Congress on his own terms, leaving the Congress with little leverage. Therefore, the Congress is pressing for the alliance seats and the number of seats to be finalised in October, regardless of the circumstances.

Given Akhilesh Yadav's position, it does not appear that he is ready to immediately sit at the negotiating table and agree to seat-sharing on the Congress's terms. Akhilesh Yadav wants an alliance on his terms, while the Congress wants one on its own terms. As a result, resolving the differences between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress over the alliance and seat-sharing is unlikely to be easy.- Ends