Testing Times For AAP, Congress As INDIA Bloc Heads For Third Meeting Ahead Of State Polls: The Week Ahead

The week ahead is going to be crucial for the INDIA bloc as the AAP and the Congress sit at the same table for an uneasy alliance with the two attacking each other ahead of the polls in 5 states.

The Week Ahead: As Congress and AAP ally for Lok Sabha election 2024, they are locked in a bitter battle over the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.

The week ahead is going to be crucial for the united Opposition bloc, known as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, as it convenes its third meeting. Meanwhile, the Congress will prepare for the upcoming crucial polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.  Meanwhile, the AAP is also likely to release its manifesto for the upcoming Rajasthan Polls. The next two weeks are going to hold multiple tests for the AAP and the Congress as they try to figure out their chemistry at the state levels and select candidates for the upcoming polls.

As the parties prepare for the assembly polls, the Election Commission of India, having completed scrutiny of the poll preparations in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana earlier this month, will visit Mizoram on August 9.

Stay with ABP Live as we try to cut the clutter around the latest news from the political arena and help you understand what is likely to happen in The Week Ahead. Here are the biggest political developments expected to play out this week.

INDIA To Decide On Coordination Panel

Top leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc constituent parties are going to meet on August 31 and September 1 and decide on how to shape up the alliance. With multiple roadblocks plaguing the alliance, this meeting will be crucial as this comes right ahead of the assembly elections in five states this year.

At this meeting, the bloc will pick members of an 11-member coordination committee to streamline its working across all states. The INDIA is yet to decide on the Prime Ministerial face, a matter which the BJP is cashing on, claiming that there is no one to lead the bloc as the constituent parties are busy squabbling among themselves. Another major issue is the direct conflict between the AAP and the Congress.

The AAP and the Congress have agreed to be part of the alliance, but barely. The Congress's Punjab and Delhi units, which fought a bitter battle with AAP during the last respective assembly elections, have reportedly urged the top leadership not to agree to any seat sharing in the state/Union Territory. In Chhattisgarh, the AAP has even demanded the resignation of CM Bhupesh Baghel, claiming that he had turned the state into a "hub of corruption". 

More importantly, the AAP's participation in the previous two elections had been in question due to the Congress's presence. Even for the third meeting, the AAP kept its partners on tenterhooks, confirming participation only on August 21.

Congress Gears Up For Assembly Polls In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh

The Congress is on a mission mode to secure the upcoming state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, and Telangana. In Rajasthan, the Congress aims to buck the three-decade-old trend of the state selecting the BJP and the Congress alternately. To this end, the party's screening committee, led by panel chairman Gaurav Gogoi, will tour the state from August 28 to August 31.

Congress state in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa and co-in-charges Abhishek Dutt and Ganesh Godiyal will accompany Gogoi on the tour. The candidates for the upcoming polls will be shortlisted after the tour.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress screening committee, led by Bhanwar Jitendra Singh as chairman, is likely to meet to decide on its poll candidates — from September 2-4. This is going to be an uphill task for the committee as both Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee in-charge and former CM Kamal Nath and former CM Digvijaya Singh will be pushing candidates close to them. The first list of the party's candidates is likely to be released between September 6 and 10. The BJP has already released its first list of 39 candidates.

The Chhattisgarh District Congress Committee will send the names of probable candidates on August 28-29 to the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee for consideration. After that, Rahul Gandhi will visit the state on September 2 for a meeting with top state leaders. After his visit, the party's election committee will meet on September 3 and the screening Committee will convene on September 4. The Congress's first list of candidates is likely to be out by September 6. Earlier, this month, the BJP released its first list of 29 candidates.

Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann To Visit Rajasthan

AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will visit Rajasthan on August 31 to sound the poll bugle. Kejriwal is likely to release the party's election manifesto. 

If the AAP's social media campaign for Rajasthan is anything to go by, Kejriwal's 'guarantees' for the Rajasthan voters could be 'mohalla clinics' in Rajasthan based on the Delhi model, 24-hour power guarantee, transformation of the school education system in Rajasthan, employment assurances, and confirmation of jobs of contractual workers. 

With the INDIA meeting scheduled later this week, it will be interesting to see if Kejriwal launches a full frontal attack on the Rajasthan Congress over the issue of corruption as he had done in Chhattisgarh last month.

Stay tuned to ABP Live as we track the updates on these stories and more.

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