Congress gives 101 seats to allies, will contest in 328, lowest Lok Sabha tally

For the first time, the Congress is contesting in less than 400 Lok Sabha seats in a parliamentary election. It is contesting 328 seats, 93 lower than the number it contested in 2019. Coalition imperatives are one key reason: the party has given away as many as 101 seats it contested in 2019 to its INDIA bloc partners this time.

The Congress is contesting more seats only in Karnataka and Odisha. In Mizoram, it is contesting the lone seat this time – in 2019, it had backed an independent. In Karnataka, the party is contesting all 28 seats this time as compared to 21 in 2019. Its then ally JD(S) had contested the rest of the seats. In Odisha, it is contesting 20 seats compared to 18 in 2019.

The party would have contested in 330 seats but for the rejection of the nomination of its candidate in Surat and the withdrawal of its candidate in Indore.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress contested 417 seats, which was then the lowest. It contested 440 seats in 2009, 464 in 2014, and 421 in 2019. This time, the party is contesting fewer seats compared to 2019 in as many as 12 states across the country.

Consider the key states where it has given seats to its allies.

The biggest dip is in Uttar Pradesh where the Congress had been in political wilderness for over three and a half decades. The party did not have any major allies in UP in 2019. Up against the BJP and the SP-BSP alliance, the party contested 67 of the state’s 80 seats but could win only one: Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.

This time, the Congress is fighting in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and is contesting in only 17 seats.

The second biggest slide is in West Bengal where the party contested 40 of the 42 seats in 2019, winning just two. This time, the party has