lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 29, 2019 23:29 IST

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday attacked the Opposition’s efforts to cobble together an alliance, targeting the Congress that has faced problems in finalising seat-sharing agreements in several states.

Writing a blog on Facebook roughly two weeks before the first phase of the general elections, Jaitley claimed that in a number of states stretching from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Kerala in the south – and including large states such as Uttar Pradesh (80 seats), Bihar (40 seats) and West Bengal (42 seats) – the Congress had either failed to be part of a larger alliance of opposition parties, was a marginal player, or was facing problems in sealing the coalition.

He termed the Mahagathbandan or grand alliance a “political circus” and said there was a leadership tussle among opposition parties. “Already multiple candidates have made their desire clear to take over the mantle. Each one of them is interested to see strength of the other party’s contender depleting,” he said.

Reacting to Jaitley’s comments, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, in an official statement, said, “BJP’s alliances are based on political opportunism, while Congress’s alliance is based on common ideology.”