‘Congress Doesn’t Deserve But We’ll Offer 1 seat’, Says AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced on Tuesday that it is willing to offer only one of Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats to the Congress under the INDIA bloc.

​​The AAP, which is currently in power in Delhi, has been negotiating with INDIA opposition bloc partner Congress to negotiate a seat-sharing formula before the Lok Sabha elections.

However, in a jab at the grand old party, AAP MP Sandeep Pathak noted, "On merit basis, Congress party does not deserve even a single seat in Delhi but keeping in mind the 'dharma of alliance' we are offering them one seat in Delhi. We propose Congress party to fight on one seat and AAP on six seats."

While the AAP got the majority of assembly seats in the national capital, Congress has been working to reclaim lost territory.  Pathak also spoke about the party's performance in the Lok Sabha, Assembly, and MCD elections. 

"In Delhi, Congress has zero seats in the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections. In the MCD elections, Congress has won 9 seats out of 250," Pathak said. 

According to India Today, preliminary discussions proposed a 4:3 seat-sharing arrangement in Delhi, with the Congress fighting four seats and the AAP taking three. However, Pathak's statement suggests that the parties were unable to reach a satisfactory agreement for both sides.

Notably, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won all seven seats in the national capital, leaving the Congress and AAP with nothing.

Splits In The INDIA Alliance

Despite jointly contesting the recent Chandigarh mayoral polls, the two parties have not agreed on a seat-sharing deal for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in several states. The AAP has been unilaterally announcing its Lok Sabha candidates in different states, indicating a glacial pace of seat-sharing discussions with the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties.

This move by AAP to contest independently in Punjab and Delhi follows a similar decision by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, led by Mamata Banerjee, due to failed seat-sharing talks with the Congress.