The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, offered one seat to Congress in Delhi on Tuesday. AAP wants the grand old party to contest a single seat in Delhi, and on the remaining six seats, the ruling AAP will contest against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2024, which is slated to be held in a few months.
AAP MP Sandeep Pathak justified the offer by asserting that, based on merit; the Congress doesn’t deserve even a single seat in Delhi. Nevertheless, considering the ‘dharma of alliance,’ AAP is willing to allocate one seat to Congress.
Pathak highlighted the Congress’s lack of Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and its minimal presence in the Delhi assembly and the 2022 MCD election, where they won just 9 out of 250 wards. Despite this, AAP is honouring the alliance dharma and extending respect by offering a seat. While candidates for the seats have not been announced yet, Pathak expressed hope that seat-sharing talks in Delhi will conclude soon.
Delhi, with its seven Lok Sabha seats, witnessed a clean sweep by the BJP in 2019. However, the political landscape has shifted, with the AAP and Congress forming an alliance to contest more seats.
Despite numerous meetings, a concrete decision remains elusive.
Conversely, the BJP has capitalised on the uncertainty surrounding the Congress. In response to AAP’s offer, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla highlighted a growing lack of confidence in the Congress among its allies. Poonawalla cited instances where leaders like Mamata Banerjee, the AAP in Punjab, and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh have expressed scepticism, essentially passing a vote of no confidence against the Congress. Poonawalla contended that the current political alliances are not focused on ‘Modi Hatao’ (ousting Modi) but rather on ‘Congress ko ghatao’ (diminishing Congress).
BJP Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva echoed this sentiment, claiming that even smaller parties find no political benefit in aligning with Congress. He suggested that Congress might be the one benefiting from such alliances, prompting leaders of smaller parties to criticise Congress leaders. Sachdeva confidently asserted that whether an alliance materialises between the AAP and Congress or not, the BJP is poised to secure all seven Delhi Lok Sabha seats with a resounding 65% vote share.