In a take-it-or-leave-it deal for Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has offered one out of seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi to its I.N.D.I. alliance partner, the Congress. Taking a swipe at their ‘alliance partner’ Congress, AAP MP Sandeep Pathak claimed that they are offering Congress one seat due to alliance dharma, as the grand old party doesn’t deserve even a single seat based on merit.
Notably, the Aam Aadmi Party held its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting on Tuesday (13th February). Following the PAC meeting, AAP National General Secretary Organisation Sandeep Pathak addressed a press conference.
Mocking Congress, Sandeep Pathak said, “In Delhi, the Congress got zero seats in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha elections; in the MCD elections, they have nine out of 250 seats…if we go by merit, the Congress does not deserve even a single seat to be reserved for it.”
He, however, added, “But, honouring alliance dharma and the Congress itself, we offer them 1 seat. Our proposal is that they contest in 1 seat and the AAP in six. We are not announcing candidates today and hope that talks regarding the way forward happen and conclude soon.”
He further stated that if talks did not succeed then the AAP would announce candidates on the six seats of its choice and get on with election preparations. According to him, the AAP had been looking forward to seat-sharing talks for over a month but these had not yet taken place.
In 2019 Lok Sabha, BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi with AAP and Congress failing to open their account.
Additionally, the Aam Aadmi Party also announced its candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat and one in Goa. During the press conference, Pathak said Venzy Viegas will contest from the South Goa seat, while Chaitar Vasava and Umesh Bhai Makwana will be the party candidate from Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats in Gujarat respectively.
The AAP has also demanded eight out of 26 Lok Seats in Gujarat from the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in proportionate to the party’s vote share in the last assembly poll. He maintained that they are part of the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
Following the AAP’s offer, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slammed the alliance partners stating that the Congress party’s allies have passed a no-confidence motion against it.
#WATCH | On AAP's statement "Congress doesn’t deserve but we'll offer 1 seat in Delhi", BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla says, "Today, yet another no confidence motion has been passed against the Congress party by its own allies. Few days ago, Mamata Banerjee said… pic.twitter.com/xymW4wx2Bv
— ANI (@ANI) February 13, 2024
I.N.D.I. alliance fell apart in Punjab
This announcement from AAP comes two days after party National convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that it will also fight and win all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital in the upcoming elections.
Apart from Delhi, the I.N.D.I. alliance talks fell apart in Punjab as AAP announced that it would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state including putting candidates against Congress.
At a rally on 10th February, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “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 the majority.”
Following a snub from AAP, Congress also declared that it will contest Lok Sabha elections on its own in Punjab. While addressing Congress workers in Ludhiana, party President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Congress is ready to go solo across India, not just in Punjab if alliance partners don’t want to fight alongside Congress. He asserted Koi Aye to theek, na aye to theek, Congress would have to fight strongly.
As per reports, the seat-sharing negotiations between Congress and AAP are also facing complications as the latter has demanded seats in other states Haryana and Goa as well. But Congress has been opposing their demand.
