Congress-AAP will collaborate on Delhi; “talks with Mamata” continue

Following their alliance-building with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) agreed to share seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.

The AAP will run for four of the seven Delhi seats, while the Congress would run for three. It was agreed upon by both parties to divide seats in Goa, Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Haryana. On Friday, a joint statement from them is anticipated.

Despite ups and downs in the seat-sharing negotiations, a Congress leader indicated that things had turned around after the party’s upper leadership’s involvement on Wednesday.

The most recent formula is that the AAP may run from New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and North West Delhi, while the Congress may run from East Delhi, Chandni Chowk, and North East Delhi. The senior brass of the Congress reportedly advised its local officials to take a “realistic view” of the situation, despite the fact that the state units of both parties have been opposed to the concept of an alliance.

At the moment, the BJP has all seven of the Delhi seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the AAP finished second in two seats and the Congress second in five, according to vote share. “The talks are on and we are hopeful of closing the deal,” said AAP minister Atishi Singh on Thursday.

According to sources, an arrangement has been made for the AAP to run in Gujarat from Bharuch and Bhavnagar. For these seats, the party has already announced Chaitar Vaisava and Umesh Bhai Makwana as its candidates. The BJP currently has the lone seat in Chandigarh, which the Congress is vying for. The Congress will give the AAP one seat in Haryana.

Regarding Goa, the Congress will contest both seats. Even though the AAP had previously said that Venzy Viegas would compete from South Goa, it has now decided to remove him. The Congress and AAP will compete independently for each of Punjab’s thirteen seats. On Wednesday, Kejriwal informed the media that both parties had decided to go solo in Punjab.

Talks are reportedly ongoing with Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, according to NDTV.

“The Congress, on a roll after sealing seat sharing deals with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, is aiming for a hat-trick, with a new formula for Mamata Banerjee,” the report said.

It went on to say that the party is “hoping to get five of Bengal’s 42 seats,” citing sources inside the party. The drawback is that, similar to agreements with the AAP and SP, the Congress would have to give up seats in states where it is the dominant opposition. There might be one seat in Meghalaya and two in Assam involved in this.