Will contest as many seats as we did in 2019 polls, says Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh

The BJP had won 17 while coalition partners JD(U) got 16 and the then Lok Jan Shakti Party 6 seats.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Friday said his party would contest as many seats in the coming 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it did in last 2019 elections. In Bihar, out of total 40 seats, the Congress had contested in 9 seats and won one seat of Kishanganj while the BJP-led NDA had won 39 seats.

“After Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra, the Congress which had contested in over 400 seats in 2019 but won only 52, has now emerged stronger. The party registered win in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. We will contest as many seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections as we did in 2019, though the final decision over number of seats to contest will be decided by the committee formed by the INDIA [Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance] bloc at its Mumbai meeting”, said Mr. Singh, who is also the party’s Rajya Sabha member. Mr. Singh, though, did not specify the number of the seats the party would contest.

Asked whether the Congress would face difficulties in getting its due share of seats from the allies in INDIA bloc, Mr. Singh added, “our haisiyat [status] may be gauged from the fact that our Lok Sabha tally was the highest for any Opposition party…even in Bihar we are the only party from the Opposition bloc which could win a seat of Kishanganj.” In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, the BJP-led NDA had won 39 out of total 40 seats in Bihar. The BJP had won 17 while coalition partners JD(U) got 16 and the then Lok Jan Shakti Party 6 seats. “Under my stewardship, the Congress may get respectable seat-sharing deal in the State”, asserted Mr. Singh.

Despite its persistent demand, the Congress is yet to get two more berths in the Cabinet led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. When asked about this, Mr. Singh expressed confidence that Mr. Kumar would agree to the demand of the Congress whenever he chose to expand his Cabinet. The Nitish-led Cabinet has already two ministers from the Congress: Murari Prasad Gautam and Afaque Alam. Of the total 243 Assembly seats, the Cabinet has 33 members against the prescribed limit of 36. During the first meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna on June 23, the BPCC chief had raised the issue of two more berths for the party and Mr. Kumar had replied positively.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders in Bihar took a jibe over Mr. Singh’s comment saying after the third meeting of the INDIA bloc, the friction over seats in States had come out. “Let’s wait for the election to approach and the Opposition bloc will disintegrate over seat-sharing,” mocked a senior BJP leader in Bihar. Political analyst Ajay Kumar told The Hindu, “Yes, it will be very difficult for the Opposition bloc to share the seats in States as there are a lot of visible contradictions among themselves.” Mr Singh, though, sounded optimistic, “Our committee formed for this at the Mumbai meeting is competent enough to sort out this issue amicably.”