Congress brainstorms over alliance partners for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

The meeting comes against the backdrop of Mayawati-led BSP snubbing Congress for a coalition.

NEW DELHI: Ahead 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress held a high-level meeting to brainstorm over possible alliance partners in 10 states Monday.

The meeting is exploring coalition possibilities in 10 states namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand.

In the absence of party chief Rahul Gandhi, who's currently in Amethi, senior Congress members Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel and Ashok Gehlot are presiding over the meeting.

The meeting has been divided into two parts. Political representatives of five states will meet up in the morning, while the leaders remaining five states will meet in the evening around 5 pm. 

In the day-long meeting, leaders representing each state has been allocated 30 minutes to present their facts and figures on alliances. 

Party high command has also invited regional party heads to express their views.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) entering an alliance with Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh Thursday. 

BSP will also fight upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections solo. Mayawati has already announced the names of 22 party candidates contesting for the MP state polls.

Meanwhile, eight political parties will meet on September 30 to work out an alliance against the ruling BJP in the forthcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Loktantrik Janata Dal mentor Govind Yadav said Sunday.

"Now that the BSP has decided to fight elections on its own, we are going to sit together to talk about forming an alliance so that the opposition vote does not get fragmented," Yadav, former Janata Dal (United) Madhya Pradesh president, said Sunday.

Leaders of the Samajwadi Party (SP), CPM, CPI, Bahujan Sangharsh Dal, Gondwana Gantantra Party, Rashtriya Samanta Dal, Prajatantrik Samadhan Party, apart from the Loktantrik Janata Dal, would meet to work out the modalities of an alliance, Yadav informed.

With agency inputs