Mallikarjun Kharge, while speaking on INDIA Alliance seat-sharing, said, “We will see this. Let the 5-state elections take place first…”

Earlier this week, a senior Congress leader also told Hindustan Times they have not initiated talks on the sharing formula and they are waiting for the assembly poll results before announcing the same

HT quoted a leader who said, “If we win 3 or 4 of the 5 states, we will have better elbow room to negotiate seats with our allies. But if we get one or two states, it will spell trouble for us in the seat negotiations”.

Last month the coordination committee of the INDIA bloc convened a meeting to discuss formulas for seat sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. As per the report, the seat-sharing formula will be based on the performance of parties in past elections and the strength of the largest party that is a member of the grouping in every state. However, the bloc has not made any announcement related to seat-sharing so far.

Also, while answering whether the 5-state elections can be regarded as the semi-final of the 2024 General elections, Kharge said, “No that is not the case. Every state has different election issues, voting is done as per those. Parliament elections are different from Assembly elections…PM Modi calls every election a poll to elect him – Municipal elections, Assembly elections…Is he himself going to become the CM? So, people vote for local leaders, who worked and resolved their issues.”

Assembly elections are scheduled in five states next month–Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram.