The move comes after the Congress rebuffed AAP’s demand to first sort out seat-sharing agreements in Gujarat, Haryana, Goa and Chandigarh before the two parties finalised Delhi. AAP’s political affairs committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, will meet on Tuesday. According to sources, the party will declare at least 7-10 candidates. AAP has already declared that it will not align with Congress in Punjab, where Congress is the principal challenger and the main Opposition party. As per sources, Congress’ surveys have revealed if the two parties fight parliamentary polls separately in Delhi, it is advantage BJP on all seven seats.
Congress’ national alliance committee, headed by Mukul Wasnik, has been speaking to INDIA bloc parties in different states to hammer out a seat-sharing agreement. However, AAP’s demand for seats has not been acceded to, making the party fidgety. Congress, on the other hand, sees this as a pressure tactic by AAP. “Right before the first meeting on seat-sharing, AAP national convenor had declared the candidate for Bharuch parliamentary seat. This does not go well for seat-sharing agreements. This was conveyed at the first meeting and even later,” said a member of the national alliance committee. Sources indicated the two parties may have an informal meeting on Delhi seat sharing on Tuesday.
At the centre of this new twist is Gujarat’s Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency. AAP is fielding MLA Chaitar Vasava as its candidate. Bharuch is considered the stronghold of Congress veteran Ahmed Patel. After his death, Patel’s daughter Mumtaz is staking claim to the Lok Sabha constituency. AAP is also staking claim to the lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency on the basis of the councillor seats it holds. However, Congress has been contending that Lok Sabha and municipal elections work differently and should not be compared. “Just because they have more councillor votes than Congress does not mean that they hold sway in the Lok Sabha segment also. Lok Sabha elections work differently,” said the Congress leader quoted above.
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
