The INDIA opposition bloc faces yet another possible crisis – over the seat-sharing bogey – after ex-Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party said Monday that it is preparing to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha election – now just a few weeks away – on its own.

Ms Mufti’s PDP said its parliamentary board will shortly decide on candidates for the union territory’s six Lok Sabha seats, which are split between the Bharatiya Janata Party (in power at the centre) and the National Conference of another former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah.

“Since they (the National Conference) has already taken a decision… we will discuss it. There will be deliberations and a future course of action will be decided (soon),” the PDP’s Suhail Bukhari said.

The comments caused a flutter given INDIA is scrambling for survival after being dumped by founder and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and snubbed by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Aam Aadmi Party. And today, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party dropped its own ultimatum.

And, in Uttar Pradesh, the alliance is expected to lose Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal to the BJP, despite the outfit having agreed a deal last month with the Samajwadi Party.