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AAP Gujarat chief announces plan to jointly contest LS polls with Congress
AAP Gujarat unit chief Isudan Gadhvi said that discussions on seat-sharing are still in the preliminary stages
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Gujarat unit chief Isudan Gadhvi on Monday said that his party and the Congress will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state together under the Opposition’s newly forged Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Speaking to reporters, Gadhvi said that discussions on seat-sharing are still in preliminary stages and the AAP’s Gujarat unit has already initiated research to identify potential constituencies for fielding candidates.
“If everything goes as planned, I guarantee that the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) will not be able to win all 26 seats in Gujarat this time,” said the journalist-turned politician, who was the AAP’s chief ministerial face in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections.
However, responding to Gadhvi’s statement, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “It is for the national leaders at the INDIA alliance to decide on the seat-sharing strategy for the state and it is not in the hands of the local leadership.”
The BJP, on the other hand, labelled the AAP as the “B team” of the Congress and said the party remains undaunted by the Opposition alliance’s potential impact on their electoral prospects.
Gujarat BJP spokesperson Rutvij Patel said, “The central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not scared of any such alliance. We are confident of winning the polls.”
He said their party has a track record of winning all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat for the last two terms and their aim is to secure victory with a margin of 5 lakh votes this time, expressing confidence in the Central government’s performance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress and the AAP contested separately in the 2022 Gujarat elections and won 17 and five seats, respectively. Both the parties had contested against each other in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after disagreements over seat sharing in Delhi and Punjab.
The third meeting of the 26-party INDIA alliance will be held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1, where it is expected to form a coordination committee. .
