Gujarat elections: Partners make Congress sweat over seats

With its new allies and the public's response toward Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's continued attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poll-bound Gujarat, Congress is optimistic about snatching away power from BJP in a state where it has been in power for more than two decades.

However, the main Opposition party seems to have hit a wall on the issue of seat sharing as many of its new allies are asking for more than what the party feels they deserve.

The party recently managed to secure crucial support from Patidar, OBC and Dalit leaders Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mewani, respectively. But hard bargaining by these groups has delayed Congress' first list of candidates that should have been out by now.

Even BJP is holding its cards close to its chest and has not yet released its first list despite holding marathon meetings with A-listers such as Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, among other senior leaders, on Wednesday.

Addressing the media after the conclusion of BJP's Central Election Committee, Union minister JP Nadda was quoted by ANI as saying, “The discussion for most of the seats for Gujarat election has been done, list will be declared at the right time.”

Haggling for seats

The same day, Congress held lengthy discussions in Delhi to finalise its list of candidates for the upcoming polls but it couldn't materialise as the seat sharing agreement with Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) has remained inconclusive. So much so, in the wake of these developments, the meeting of the party's Central Election Committee has been postponed from Thursday to Friday - which means a further delay in the first list of candidates.

Sources say that PAAS has demanded nearly two dozen seats and the grand old party is bargaining hard to have them reduce that number. Similarly, Alpesh Thakor, who recently joined Congress with his supporters, wants a say in the seat distribution in north Gujarat and adjacent areas.

In fact, he even announced the name of Geniben Thakor as a candidate from Vav, which surprised the party leadership. Geniben contested the 2012 assembly election from Vav and lost by a margin of nearly 12,000 votes. There has been no indication from the senior leadership about whether she would be given a ticket this time around. However, what has taken the party aback is the way Alpesh announced the name in public without consulting senior leaders.

The JD(U) angle

As the date for the elections draws closer, Congress faces yet another seat sharing hurdle with JD(U) rebel group led by Chotubhai Vasava. Ever since Vasava defied his own party president, Nitish Kumar, and voted in favour of veteran party leader Ahmed Patel during the closely contested Rajya Sabha polls, Congress has been keen on joining hands with him.

Known to be a popular figure amongst tribal population in Bahruch and Narmada disctrict, Vasava, has put forth a demand of 20-odd seats which has baffled the main opposition party. Representing Jhagadia assembly segment in Bahruch district Vasava's is in alliance with the grand old party in these two districts and not beyond.

The senior leadership believes that the JD(U) managed to win only one seat in the last assembly elections and it would be foolish to allot these many to Vasava loyalists this time around. They are of the opinion that he could be given couple of more seats, except for his own, and that is it.

“20 seats are out of question. We are here to win elections and not to be massaging people's ego. They should not get greedy and fight according to their strengths,” said a Gujarat-based leader.

A senior Delhi-based leader, who is privy to these discussions, dismissed rumours of seat sharing agreement with these groups under any sort of threat. He said, “We are having detailed discussions but that in no way suggests that the alliance is under any sort of threat. We have to respect the demands of our partners and they have to respect ours and once we reach a consensus, we will announce the names.”

A jittery BJP

Moreover, the Congress leader hinted that the party could be waiting for BJP to announce its list so that they can accordingly decide whether to change any candidate. Even the BJP has refrained from announcing its list and a senior party leader claimed that the saffron party is waiting for Congress to release its list so that they can weigh their options before making any formal announcements.

Meanwhile, sitting BJP MLAs in Gujarat are getting jittery over the final list considering Modi and Shah have the tendency to drop many legislators as witnessed in previous elections. Earlier in 2007, Modi dropped 30 MLAs while the number came down to 18 in 2012. It is expected that this time around more number of MLAs are likely to be dropped in wake of the challenge posed by Congress.

The game in on in Gujarat and it remains to be seen whether Congress can continue its momentum and end the uncertainty around the seat sharing formula with its partners. If it does, it can pose a serious challenge to BJP, that for the first time since Modi took over looks more than a little anxious.