‘Holistic talks’ before pact with AAP in Delhi: Congress

Senior Congress leaders said any seat-sharing arrangement with AAP may factor in a wider negotiation for both Delhi and Punjab

Though its Delhi unit is keen to contest all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, the Congress party is keeping its options open for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with senior leaders indicating that any possible seat-sharing arrangement with the Aam Admi Party (AAP) may factor in a wider negotiation for both Delhi and Punjab.

On Wednesday, soon after the Congress strategy meeting, a war of words erupted between the Congress and the AAP after Alka Lamba, a Congress leader from Delhi who was formerly with the AAP, said that the party high command asked the state unit to prepare to fight in all seven seats. (PTI)

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The Congress and the AAP are both part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, a group of 26 opposition parties that aims to dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance in the next general elections.

Apart from Delhi and Punjab, the AAP’s possible expansion plan in poll-bound states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, could also be a deal-breaker between the two sides, a Congress leader aware of the matter said, adding that the issue was discussed at length at the strategy meeting for Delhi on Wednesday.

According to functionaries present in the meeting, senior Congress leaders including former Union minister Ajay Maken presented data to show that the party that won the majority of seats in Delhi has formed the government at the Centre, singling it out as a “bell weather state”, while some other leaders suggested that the Congress has “strong and popular candidates” available for all seven seats.

To be sure, the grand old party’s stock in the Capital has fallen sharply over the past eight years, corresponding with the meteoric rise of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP, which won 62 of the 70 assembly seats in 2020 and a staggering 67 in 2015. The Congress did not win a single assembly seat in either of the previous two state elections. The AAP also dislodged the Congress from power in Punjab in the 2022 assembly elections.

On Wednesday, soon after the Congress strategy meeting, a war of words erupted between the Congress and the AAP after Alka Lamba, a Congress leader from Delhi who was formerly with the AAP, said that the party high command asked the state unit to prepare to fight in all seven seats.

AAP’s chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar hit back, saying, “If they (Congress) do not want alliance in Delhi, then going to the INDIA alliance meeting is pointless and a waste of time. Our top leadership will decide whether we have to attend the next INDIA bloc meeting.” The INDIA meeting is scheduled in Mumbai on August 31.

However, the Congress’s Delhi in-charge Deepak Babaria refuted Lamba’s comments. “There were no discussions regarding elections or alliance in the meeting,” he said, adding that “Alka Lamba is not authorised to speak about such sensitive issues.”

A senior leader who was present in Wednesday’s meeting said that the upcoming general elections were discussed at length. “Elections are due in eight months. There are no discussions on seat-sharing at this moment. Show me one party that will not prepare a strategy. It is normal at this stage to talk about all seats in Delhi,” said the leader. Another leader said there was no guarantee of a pact with AAP at this stage. “It will depend on a number of factors, including how many seats they are willing to give in Punjab,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Delhi minister and senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the war of words was yesterday’s news.

“The Congress leadership has refuted the statements [of Alka Lamba]. Yesterday’s issue is over. Now everything is fine, as it was before,” Bharadwaj told reporters.