Seat sharing: Three Congress committees to hold talks on Monday

They will draw up strategy for Lok Sabha elections

Ahead of opening seat-sharing talks with its coalition partner, the Janata Dal (Secular), for the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leaders are set to hold crucial internal parleys on Monday.

Three committees — Congress coordination committee, election committee, and campaign committee — are meeting separately in which chairman of the coalition government’s coordination committee Siddaramaiah is expected to play a crucial role. Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara on Sunday said the seat-sharing discussion within the party platform would commence on Monday.

This comes in the backdrop of JD(S) leaders, including party president H.D. Deve Gowda, seeking one-third or 10 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State and several Congress leaders, especially those from south Karnataka, opposing to cede ground to the regional partner.

“The meeting is crucial as party leaders are set to have detailed discussions on how many constituencies and which of them the party can offer to the JD(S). This will become the basis for future negotiations with the JD(S). Voting pattern, byelection results and also the Assembly election results, among many other parameters, will be assessed by the leaders to decide the strategy,” Congress sources said.

‘JD(S) not rigid on demand’

“Mr. Gowda has also not been rigid in his demand for 10 seats. The meetings will set the ground for opening talks with the JD(S) formally. Capabilities of respective parties and winnability will also be discussed,” sources said.

The Congress coordination committee has members such as Mr. Siddaramaiah, Dr. Parameshwara, campaign committee head H.K. Patil, Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge, and Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Gowda.

Once the discussions in the party forum is completed, sources said the party would be in a position to have a seat-sharing dialogue with the JD(S). “So far, even the JD(S) has not made any formal communication with the Congress on the seat-sharing issue,” sources said.