New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Congress leader Udit Raj on Friday cautioned party decision-makers against delay in seat adjustment with INDIA bloc partners in Maharashtra, claiming that similar dithering in Delhi led to the party’s loss in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Responding to Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s reported concerns over seat-sharing in the poll-bound western state, Raj said if the Maharashtra leader has raised concerns then these need to be addressed.

“There has been some laxity on our part on the declaration of names and seat-sharing formula in Delhi earlier. This resulted in poor performance in Lok Sabha elections. The AAP announced its nominees in the last week of February, the BJP announced its list in the first week of March but we announced our candidates around April 14,” he told .

Voting to pick a new 288-member Maharashtra Assembly is scheduled for November 20. The results will be declared on November 23.

Asked if Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s plan to take out a march in Maharashtra was any indication of uneasiness in the national-level bloc, Raj said, “There is nothing alarming about taking out a march for a noble cause. He is planning to highlight issues related to livelihood and we support him.”

“There is no restriction on taking out a march. The SP is a secular party and there is no harm in its influence growing as it would add to the popularity of the INDIA bloc,” he said.

Reacting to the Haryana government’s decision to implement the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation in government jobs and educational institutes, Raj said it would not benefit any group as the reservation itself is in danger.

“The need of the hour is to save reservation and the Constitution… Since 2018 recruitments have been stalled,” he said.

The Congress leader said it was due to party leader Rahul Gandhi’s intervention that the lateral entry into central government jobs without reservation was stopped.