AAP will contest from four seats, while the Congress from three.
The I.N.D.I. Alliance took a big step forward in the direction of seat-sharing in Delhi, with the AAP and the Congress agreeing to field common or single candidates against BJP nominees on all seven seats. The AAP will field the alliance’s common candidates on four seats while the Congress will contest three. At present, all seven LS seats are held by the BJP.
The AAP-Congress seat-sharing deal announced on Saturday puts to rest the rumors that both the parties were looking to go it alone in the upcoming elections due to friction over seat division. Analysts say the deal may impact the outcome on the seven seats only if voters of these parties transfer their votes to the other. In 2019, the BJP had got 56.86% of votes in Delhi, the Congress got 22.51%, and the AAP got 18%.
According to the seat-sharing deal, the AAP will contest New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and East Delhi, while the Congress will contest the remaining three: Chandni Chowk, North East, and North West.
The choice of LS seats by the Congress as part of the alliance shows an attempt to regain its hold over pockets that are dominated by Muslim voters. All these three LS seats have a significant presence of Muslim voters who used to be the traditional supporters of the Congress till the AAP arrived on Delhi’s political landscape in 2013 and wooed this section of voters.
The BJP hit out at the seat-sharing deal between the AAP and the Congress by calling it a marriage between two corrupt outfits. New Delhi’s sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi said, “Both the parties are corrupt, and politics is not just about math but the chemistry of hearts. The coming together of parties is no guarantee of hearts coming together. The people will reject the chemistry of the bhrashthacharis (the corrupt) and support the chemistry of sevadaris (servicemen) led by PM Narendra Modi.”
The seat-sharing arrangement in Delhi comes as a boost for the alliance close on the heels of a similar understanding reached between the Congress and the SP in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress on Saturday also announced its plan to contest the upcoming general elections in Gujarat, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Goa in alliance with the AAP. However, there is no clarity on a possible pact between the two in Punjab.
“In Delhi, the grand old party has decided to contest on three out of seven parliamentary seats, while AAP will field candidates on four seats,” said Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Wasnik in a joint press conference with AAP leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi Marlena.
He also said that out of the 26 seats in Gujarat, the Congress will field its candidates on 24 seats, leaving two seats—Bharuch and Bhavnagar—for the AAP. Similarly, in Haryana, which has 10 seats, the Congress will compete in nine, and the AAP will get one seat—Kurukshetra. The Congress will contest the lone Chandigarh seat and both seats in Goa.
Soon after the announcement of seat-sharing in Gujarat, Mumtaz Patel, daughter of the late Ahmed Patel, expressed her disappointment as the Bharuch constituency seat went to the AAP, which Patel won several times but is with the BJP.
Earlier there was a buzz about the possibility of fielding either Mumtaz Patel or Faisal Patel, the children of Ahmed Patel.
Mumtaz took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her disappointment and tweeted, “Deeply apologize to our district cadre for not being able to secure the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in alliance. I share your disappointment. Together, we will regroup to make @INCIndia stronger. We won’t let @ahmedpatel’s 45 years of legacy go in vain,” with #bharuchkibeti. This tweet has sparked fresh controversy as Mumtaz hinted towards a rebel within the alliance, which will become clear in due course.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP Virendra Sachdeva expressed surprise over the alliance between the Congress and AAP, highlighting the apparent contradiction in their earlier accusations of corruption against each other. “Both the parties at level zero in the city and the sum of zero plus zero will also be zero,” he said.
He said, “Delhi residents are bewildered that just a few days ago, both the Congress and AAP were labeling each other as corrupt. Today, the leadership of AAP, formed to combat the corruption of the central Congress-led UPA government and the previous Sheila Dikshit-led Delhi government, has surrendered itself before Congress to salvage its political existence.”