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Punjab AAP minister rules out alliance with Congress in state
Cabinet minister Anmol Gagan Maan said the Aam Aadmi Party will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats under chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s leadership without any seat-sharing
A day after leaders of the Punjab Congress strongly opposed any coalition with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state, cabinet minister Anmol Gagan Maan on Wednesday announced that there would be no alliance between the AAP and the Congress in Punjab.
Gagan Maan said the AAP would contest all 13 seats in the Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of chief minister Bhagwant Mann and without any seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress.
Also read: Punjab Congress rules out any truck with AAP
“We do not need any alliance with the Congress. We are an honest party. People had given us a strong mandate with 92 seats (out of 117 in the state assembly) and they love Mann’s style,” the state tourism minister said at a press conference in Chandigarh regarding a tourism summit scheduled in Mohali from September 11 to 13.
She said the decision of not having the alliance in Punjab has been taken by the state unit under the leadership of the chief minister.
The AAP minister’s statement, which indicates that the battlelines are drawn between the state units of the two parties, is a setback to the resolve of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together.
After its two-day conclave in Mumbai last week, the 28-party opposition block, which includes both Congress and AAP, had declared its intent to contest the next general election together “as far as possible”. A resolution passed at the meeting said that seat-sharing arrangements in different states would be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in collaborative spirit or give and take.
Gagan Maan said the alliance at the national level is between different parties to remove the “dictatorial government” of the BJP and to safeguard democracy, but the political situation in Punjab is different. “We will contest the Lok Sabha elections independently under the leadership of CM Bhagwant Mann. The AAP will have no alliance with Congress,” she added.
Asked if these were her personal views, the minister said these are the views of the party and the orders of the chief minister.
Workers’ sentiment against tie-up: Warring
Punjab Congress leaders, who met in Chandigarh on Tuesday, strongly opposed any truck with the ruling party in the state. The party leaders were of the view that seat sharing with AAP would be detrimental to the interests of the Congress in the state, and the workers’ sentiment was against the alliance.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring told reporters that the Congress would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. “The state unit is preparing to contest all the seats in the state as per the directions of the high command, which has asked us to prepare for all 13 seats. We are acting accordingly,” he said.
Congress leader Navjot Sidhu begs to differ
Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu took a different line from his party colleagues in the state, stating that selfish vested interests should be discarded.
“The decision of the party high command is supreme. It is for a greater cause; the national interest has been kept paramount to honour the spirit of the Constitution and to free the enchained institutions which draw their strength from constitutional values. Petty perish pump politics loaded with selfish vested interests should be discarded for safeguarding our DEMOCRACY. Elections are not fought for the next election, they are fought for the next generation,” the former MP posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, backing the alliance.
His public airing of views, however, did not go down well with party leaders in the state.
