INDIA bloc was formed to take on BJP in 2024, no one discussed Assembly poll alliances: Congress sources

New Delhi: Amid the daily diatribe by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav against the Congress party within the INDIA bloc, sources said that the Opposition alliance was formed to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together and there was no discussion on any alliance for the Assembly polls in the five states.

Akhilesh Yadav has been critical of the Congress of late and said that the grand old party is known for its double-speak and acts like the “B-team of the BJP.”

The Samajwadi Party chief also termed the Congress a cunning party and urged people not to vote for it.

A Congress source said that during the second and third meeting of the INDIA bloc in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18 and on August 31 and September 1, all the members discussed how to defeat the BJP at the Centre in 2024.

The source clarified that there was no discussion regarding any kind of alliance in the Assembly elections in the five states.

The source said that during the second and third meeting also no one raised the issue of alliance for the Assembly elections.

“It was clear. At both the second and third meeting of the INDIA bloc, an alliance was discussed for the Lok Sabha elections,” the source added.

Commenting on the language the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was using for the Congress, the party source said that the language was not good and did not reflect well on the INDIA bloc.

The source said that even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar complained during a public meeting that the Congress was busy in the Assembly elections in five states.

While addressing a public rally in Patna on last Thursday, Nitish Kumar had said, “We spoke with all the parties, urged them to unite and protect the country from those who are trying to alter its history. For this, meetings were held in Patna and elsewhere. The INDIA bloc was formed but nothing much is happening. There are Assembly elections in five states.” He added that the Congress is more interested in those.

“We were all working together to take forward the Congress party but they are not worried about all this right now. They are busy with the five-state elections right now. So, after the five-state elections, they themselves will call everyone," Nitish Kumar had said.

The source said that after Nitish Kumar’s charge, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge immediately called up the Bihar Chief Minister, who is one of the main founders of the INDIA bloc.

Kharge explained to him the importance of the Assembly elections and also said that the INDIA bloc talks would gain momentum after November 28, when campaigning would stop in all the five states.

When asked if Kharge will also speak to Akhilesh Yadav, who is targeting the Congress, the source said, “It is likely that Kharge will speak to Akhilesh Yadav in the coming days and also with Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav.”

The source also explained that in the five Assembly election-bound states, the grand old party has the maximum at stake as it is the main contender there.

Explaining the ground situation in the state of Mizoram where the polling concluded on Tuesday, the party source said that the ruling MNF, another regional party ZPM and the Congress are the main contenders in the northeastern state.

The source said that there is an anti-incumbency factor against the MNF and the ZPM has emerged in Mizoram as one of the regional parties adopting the technique of the AAP of protesting on all issues. “So the fight is triple-cornered in Mizoram,” he said.

He also said that the BJP is not a factor in the northeastern state but the regional parties can go with the saffron party in case of a fractured mandate. Everyone has used regional parties in northeast. The source also said that the BJP doesn't win maximum seats and the reality is that the regional parties win and they support the ruling party at the Centre. “But in Mizoram there is a fight,” he added.