The seat-sharing talks between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the two key partners of the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, have hit a roadblock over Punjab, where both parties have a strong presence. The two parties have held two rounds of discussions so far but have not reached any consensus on how to distribute the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the border state.
However, both parties seem to have agreed on a 4-3 seat formula in Delhi, but the clarity of which party will contest on three seats and which on four seats is still not clear. In 2019, the Congress was in second place with five seats out of seven, and settling for three seats this time would be a difficult task.
Although some believe that the Congress would not agree to seat distribution on AAP’s terms but would make AAP mould the Congress way, if they do not agree, they may be asked to leave the alliance.
However, there seems to be a sense of AAP’s dominance over Congress, especially in Delhi and Punjab, where it is in power. Despite this fact, AAP’s performance in Lok Sabha is not humongous, as they could only manage to win one seat, were in third place on five seats, were nowhere in the competition on the remaining seven seats out of thirteen seats in Punjab, and lost all seats that they contested in Delhi too.
Sources say that there are high chances in Punjab that both will contest separately because AAP is claiming seven seats, leaving six for Congress. In 2019 elections, AAP could only manage 7.5 percent of the vote while Congress had the largest vote share in the state at 40.6 percent and won eight seats.
An expert said that overconfidence of the AAP can hamper its performance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Congress is also unhappy with AAP’s demand for one seat in Gujarat and three seats in Haryana, where the former has a better chance of putting up a fight against the BJP. Congress has sought time to consult its state units on these issues.
After Friday’s meeting, Congress leader Salman Khursid, while addressing the media, said, “We have found chemistry; we had a positive discussion on this, and soon we will be announcing it officially.” On asking specifically about Punjab, Khursid said the talks were not limited to a single state but were a broader discussion.
Ongoing negotiations over seat-sharing highlight the complex hurdles confronting the opposition coalition. While unity prevails in Maharashtra, extended talks in other states suggest the risk of alliances breaking down.
The result of these discussions holds immense importance, shaping not just the opposition’s power but also signalling their joint capacity to contest the BJP’s dominance in the forthcoming elections.