The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced seat-sharing for Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh, weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
According to the AAP-Congress seat-sharing pact, Kejriwal’s party will contest on four Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, two in Gujarat including Bharuch and Bhavnagar.
The Congress will contest on three seats in Delhi, nine in Haryana, 24 in Gujarat and also the Chandigarh seat. In Haryana, the AAP will contest on the Kurukshetra seat.
The four seats on which AAP will contest the Lok Sabha polls are New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and East Delhi. The Congress will contest on North West Delhi, North East Delhi and Chandni Chowk seats. Delhi has a total of seven Lok Sabha seats.
In Goa, the Congress will contest on both the seats.
AAP and Congress are part of the opposition’s I.N.D.I.A bloc, formed to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking on the alliance, AAP leader Atishi said, “… Even though talks for seat sharing with the Congress party took some time, but AAP had made it very clear since the beginning that it is an important part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc. Finally today, multiple states’ seat sharing has been announced in the I.N.D.I.A bloc in which Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, and Chandigarh are involved… Be it Congress or AAP, we have prioritised welfare of the country over welfare of the party… the alliance will win Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, and Goa… Ever since the I.N.D.I.A bloc seat-sharing was nearly finalised, Arvind Kejriwal started getting threats from all sides. We were told, if we don’t exit the alliance, after ED, CBI will also frame charges against Arvind Kejriwal to arrest him. We have information that CBI will issue a notice on Monday, and probably in some days, Arvind Kejriwal is arrested..
The AAP and Congress have finalised the seat-sharing agreement. In Delhi, the AAP and Congress will contest on four and three seats, respectively. In Haryana, the AAP will contest one seat, while the Congress will contest on rest of the nine seats. In Gujarat, the AAP will contest on two seats, while the Congress will contest on the rest of the seats,” said Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.
Speaking on the seat-sharing pact, Delhi Congress president Arvind Singh Lovely said, “The AAP and Congress are part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc. We had said this earlier that the alliance will contest against the BJP across the nation. This is a battle for the entire country and the results would be definitely favourable for the I.N.D.I.A bloc.”
The way the BJP government is destroying all institutions one by one, the way votes are being stolen and the way the citizens of this country are facing issues like inflation and unemployment, the country today needs an honest and strong option. Considering that and by keeping the country’s interests at the forefront, we have forged this alliance,” said AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak.
Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said, “Detailed discussions took place regarding which party will contest from which seat before finalising the seat sharing.”
Maharashtra Assembly LoP and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, “Several efforts were made to ensure that the alliance between Congress and AAP doesn’t materialise. CBI and ED were also used. Despite that, the Congress and AAP have agreed to contest the elections together. This is going to give a positive message across the country.”
Congress has already announced seat-sharing with Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh. The ‘Grand Old Party’ will contest on 17 seats in UP while the remaining 63 will be contested by SP and other alliance partners.
