Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said seat-sharing talks with the Congress are in progress as going solo in the Lok Sabha poll will make the contest easier for the BJP in the national capital.
The remarks came after Mr. Kejriwal met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over a lunch hosted by Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi at his residence. Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi was also present on the occasion.
The Chief Minister also told reporters that the decision to contest the election in Punjab separately was a “mutually agreed” one and there is “no bad blood” between both INDIA bloc partners.
Earlier, AAP had offered just one seat to the Congress in the national capital while saying it was tired of protracted negotiations over the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Sandeep Pathak, AAP’s national general secretary [organisation], had blamed the Congress for not coming to the table for talks.
Protracted discussions
Discussions between both parties have dragged for over a month now. Leaders of both parties had met on January 12 last time, prompting AAP to say that it is ready to go alone in the Lok Sabha election.
Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader, who has been privy to the discussions, said AAP’s offer of one seat was “mere posturing”.
He said both outfits are discussing a formula under which one party will contest on four seats, leaving the remaining three for the other.
“If you look at the 2019 Lok Sabha results, the Congress was in second place in five of the seven Delhi seats,” the Congress leader said, adding that his party is leaving no stone unturned for its revival in Delhi, where it has not won any seat in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls after 2013. The ruling AAP in Delhi too had drawn a blank in the last two Lok Sabha polls.
Differences in INDIA
Mr. Kejriwal’s statement also holds significance as the Opposition’s fragile alliance has been beset with differences among its partners, with seat-sharing talks collapsing in some of the States.
Recently, the INDIA bloc received a severe jolt as a key constituent — the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) — deserted it to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Last week, the Chaudhary Jayant Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, which holds influence in western U.P., also confirmed that it will contest the elections with the NDA.
