Talks continuing over seat sharing in Delhi: Kejriwal

The Delhi chief minister denied that there was rift between the AAP and the Congress over the former’s decision to contest all the Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that the Congress and the AAP had mutually agreed on his party going it alone on the Lok Sabha seats in Punjab during the upcoming general elections.

Delhi chief miniser Arvind Kejriwal with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. (HT photo)

Kejriwal denied that there was rift between the two parties over the AAP’s decision. Both parties are constituents of the opposition grouping INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). The two parties are also yet to reach an understanding over seat sharing in Delhi, which has seven Lok Sabha seats.

On Sunday, Kejriwal met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during a visit to the house of senior Congress leader and noted Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Singhvi’s for lunch. The Delhi CM was accompanied by state minister Atishi. Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also present on the occasion.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, Kejriwal said, “In Punjab, Congress and AAP have mutually agreed to contest the polls separately. There is no hostility over this...We are in talks with the Congress over an alliance in Delhi. We are discussing seat-sharing arrangements. The BJP will have it easy if there is no alliance (between AAP and Congress).”

When asked about Kejriwal’s comment, leaders of both Delhi BJP and city Congress did offer a comment.

In a video of the meeting that was posted on social media, Kejriwal could be seen sitting along Kharge, with the latter saying that “We are sitting together after the decision has been taken (Faisla hone ke baad hi mil rahe hain)”.

On February 11, while addressing a rally in Punjab, Kejriwal had the people of Delhi will give all seven Lok Sabha seats to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) setting political circles abuzz with speculation that the party would fight election independently. The statement came a day after the Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann declared that AAP would independently compete all 13 seats in Punjab. In response, Pratap Singh Bajwa, the Leader of the opposition in Punjab assembly, expressed gratitude to Mann, stating that this aligns with the Congress’s preferences.

On February 13, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting after which Kejriwal said that the AAP wants to contest six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, and is ready to give one seat to its INDIA bloc partner, the Congress, based on its recent past electoral performances in Delhi.

AAP’s national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said that the Congress does not deserve to contest even a single seat in Delhi but AAP is ready to offer one Lok Sabha seat to the grand old party as part of alliance dharma

After the PAC meeting, the AAP announced candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat and one in Goa, and said it wants to contest 8 of the 26 seats in Gujarat, and one of the two seats in Goa in alliance with Congress, and blamed the Congress for the delay in the finalisation of the seat-sharing talks.

All the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi are held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2014. AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly whereas the Congress has zero members in the House. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls which the AAP and the Congress contested separately, the Congress stood second on five seats and the AAP came at the second spot in two Lok Sabha seats.