In the face of numerous challenges confronting the INDIA bloc, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have managed to resolve their differences and establish a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Goa.
A press conference held in New Delhi on Saturday saw AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, Sandeep Pathak, and Congress’s Mukul Wasnik, Deepak Babaria, Arvinder Singh Lovely announce a four-three seat-sharing formula in Delhi. AAP will be contesting four seats, while Congress will vie for three.
AAP has set its sights on the South Delhi, New Delhi, West Delhi, and Northwest Delhi seats, while the Congress will compete in East, Northeast Delhi, and Chandni Chowk. Currently, all seven seats in the national capital are held by BJP MLAs, each securing over 50% of the vote share.
In Haryana, the Congress will contest nine seats, with Kurukshetra allocated to AAP. In Gujarat, AAP will field candidates from Bhavnagar and Bharuch. The Congress will also contest from Chandigarh and two seats in Goa.
However, in Punjab, both parties have decided to go it alone, as state units of both parties have insisted on not aligning with the other. Similarly, in Assam, AAP has already announced the names of three candidates.
This announcement follows closely on the heels of the Congress and Samajwadi Party finalising their seat-sharing deal in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress is set to contest on 17 seats, with the remaining 63 seats to be contested by the Samajwadi Party and other parties willing to be part of the INDIA alliance.
Bengal continues to be a contentious issue for the Opposition bloc. The Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, has declared that the party will be going solo in the state. The Congress, on the other hand, has tried to downplay the situation by stating that “heated discussions” were ongoing between the two parties to secure a deal.
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