CWC wants Congress to expedite seat sharing matrix in upcoming Assembly elections in five States

HYDERABAD: The need to expeditiously initiate and complete the seat-sharing arrangement among the INDIA alliance parties for the upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram came up before the newly constituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Briefing media about the first-day proceedings of the two-day CWC meeting, former Union Ministers Chidambaram and Jayaram Ramesh said that the executive committee of the INDIA alliance would initiate steps in that direction and the CWC had no role whatsoever in finalising the seat-sharing arrangements.

“There will be a detailed discussion on the upcoming elections in five States where issues related to state-specific issues will come up for a debate,” Chidambaram said. When asked about the CWC’s view on the controversy about the comments of a DMK leader on ‘Sanatana Dharma’, the Congress senior leader said that Congress had no interest in getting dragged into that controversy. “Sonia Gandhi has amply made it clear that Congress always believed in equality of all faiths. ‘Sarva Dharma Sadbhava’ is what we believe in,” he said.

One nation one election concept was nothing but an assault on the constitution, Chidambaram said, adding that the move would need at least five constitutional amendments. “The BJP very well knew that it had no numbers to achieve that kind of mandate in both the houses,” he pointed out.

The Congress leaders further said that Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the Government urging it to debate nine issues in the upcoming special session of the Parliament. He said that the Congress would be more than happy to discuss those issues. Chidambaram said that they would oppose any move to change the powers of the Election Commission.

Responding to a question on CWC’s point of view on the proposed change of the name of India to Bharat, the Congress leader described it as a fake controversy brought to the fore by the BJP to divert the people’s attention from the real issues. Forecasting such moves, Dr BR Ambedkar and the architects of the Indian Constitution said “India that is Bharat”, meaning both are one and the same, Chidambaram added.

The CWC also discussed the political situation in the country where it was felt that there was a grave threat to federalism under the BJP rule. The revenue share of States had come down drastically, the CWC felt. Concern was expressed about the recent floods in Himachal Pradesh and the indifferent attitude of the BJP Government at the Centre towards the Congress-ruled hill state. CWC demanded a national disaster status for flood-ravaged HP.

Under a review of the economic situation in the country, the Congress felt that the continuous increase of interest rates by the RBI indicated galloping inflation at the gates. The CWC expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation internally as well as externally. “China has been inching into Indian territory by creating buffer zones. We are also worried about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur,” the former Union Finance Minister said.

The CWC also discussed the possibility of launching the second ‘Bharat zodo yatra’ and passed a condolence resolution for departed leaders and those who perished in Manipur violence.