As seat-sharing negotiations between members of the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections remain unresolved, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made its stance clear on Tuesday, expressing its desire to contest six seats in the national capital while offering only one seat to the Congress.
Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak emphasized that, based on merit, the Congress did not deserve any seats in Delhi. However, adhering to the principle of alliance, AAP was willing to allocate one seat to its senior partner.
“Given the ‘dharma of alliance,’ we are offering the Congress party one seat in Delhi, although they do not merit it on a purely meritocratic basis,” Pathak stated.
Pathak reiterated AAP’s intent to contest six seats in Delhi for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and urged the Congress to expedite seat-sharing discussions to reach a resolution promptly.
Highlighting the Congress’s electoral performance in Delhi, Pathak pointed out that the party had failed to secure any seats in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and only managed to win nine seats out of 250 in the MCD elections.
In addition to outlining its stance on seat allocation in Delhi, AAP also announced its candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat and one in Goa. Venzy Viegas was named as the candidate for the South Goa seat, while Chaitar Vasava and Umesh Bhai Makwana were chosen to contest from the Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats in Gujarat, respectively.
Furthermore, Pathak disclosed that AAP had requested eight Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, which is proportionate to the party’s vote share in the last assembly poll.
The ongoing discussions between the Congress and AAP regarding seat-sharing arrangements within the INDIA bloc commenced with their first formal meeting on January 8. However, despite the deliberations, an agreement has yet to be reached.
In a separate development, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently declared that the party would not form an alliance with the Congress in Punjab. Instead, AAP intends to contest all 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state along with Chandigarh independently.
With negotiations ongoing and the political landscape evolving, the coming days will likely see further developments as parties strive to solidify their electoral strategies ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
