INDIA alliance seat-sharing news: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sandeep Pathak on Tuesday announced that the party is offering one Lok Sabha seat to the Congress party keeping in mind the "dharma of the alliance." Pathak further took a swipe at the party and said that the grand old party does not deserve even a single seat on merit basis.
Pathak said: "On merit basis, Congress party does not deserve even a single seat in Delhi but keeping in mind the 'dharma of alliance' we are offering them one seat in Delhi. We propose Congress party to fight on one seat and AAP on six seats."
While AAP won a majority of the assembly seats in the national capital, Congress has been trying to regain lost ground. He also elaborated the party's performance in the Lok Sabha, Assembly and MCD elections.
"In Delhi, Congress has zero seats in the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections. In the MCD elections, Congress has won 9 seats out of 250," Pathak said.
Congress on seat-sharing with AAP in Delhi
Delhi Congress chief, Arvinder Singh Lovely, announced on Monday that the party would focus on air pollution in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Lovely criticised both the BJP-led central government and the AAP government for their lack of action against the issue.
Despite the potential alliance with AAP, Lovely stated that the Congress would not refrain from highlighting their failures. He added that the Congress, as the senior partner in the opposition alliance, is committed to it and a meeting to finalise a seat-sharing arrangement is expected soon.
'An alliance of Congress ko ghatao': BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla
Taking a jibe at the INDIA alliance after AAP-Congress seat sharing details for Delhi came out, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that yet another no-confidence motion has been passed against the grand old party. To substantiate his point, Poonawalla cited Congress' allies Trinamool Congress (TMC), AAP and Samajwadi Party (SP) deserting them in states like West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
"So in every state, you can see that no alliance partner has any confidence in Congress party or in Rahul Gandhi. And therefore, this is not an alliance of 'Modi Hatao'. It is actually an alliance of 'Congress ko ghatao'. Anyhow, Congress should be given 200 or less seats to contest across the country because Congress and these parties have come into each other's existence," he said.
Arvind Kejriwal on alliance with Congress
The development comes after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that the Aam Aadmi Party AAP is expected to win all seven Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming elections in Delhi. The declaration was made during a rally in Tarn Taran, Punjab.
Kejriwal further stated that if the AAP also wins all 13 seats in Punjab, it would fortify the Bhagwant Mann government and deter the Centre from withholding any state funds. Previously, there were discussions regarding a 4:3 seat-sharing formula between the Congress and AAP in Delhi, with the Congress contesting one more seat than AAP.
Kejriwal also confirmed that AAP will independently contest all 13 seats in Punjab and 1 in Chandigarh, thereby ruling out any seat-sharing with the Congress, a part of the INDIA bloc.
"For Lok Sabha elections, Punjab has 13 seats and one from Chandigarh- a total of 14 seats. In the next 10-15 days, AAP will declare its candidates in all of these 14 seats. You (supporters) have to make AAP sweep all these 14 seats with majority," Kejriwal said at a rally.
Cracks within the INDIA alliance
Despite jointly contesting the recent Chandigarh mayoral polls, the two parties have not agreed on a seat-sharing deal for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in several states. The AAP has been unilaterally announcing its Lok Sabha candidates in different states, expressing concern about the slow pace of seat-sharing discussions with the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties.
This move by AAP to contest independently in Punjab and Delhi follows a similar decision by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, led by Mamata Banerjee, due to failed seat-sharing talks with the Congress.