Similar to Haryana and Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is considering going solo in Delhi as well. The Kejriwal-led AAP is dissatisfied with the progress of seat-sharing talks with its partner, the Congress, in the upcoming Lok Sabha election less than a couple months away.
A party insider, familiar with the situation, mentioned that senior leaders within the party are unhappy with the way the Congress is handling the seat-sharing negotiations. He added that the party is eager to kick-start its Lok Sabha campaign, but delays in seat-sharing talks are hindering their progress. The lack of clarity on the number of seats they will contest and leave for their ally is causing frustration among the cadre.
The last formal meeting between both parties to discuss seat-sharing was almost a month ago, leading to dissatisfaction among AAP members. While party cadres from both sides prefer to contest solo, similar to Haryana and Punjab, senior leaders of AAP are inclined towards an alliance to effectively challenge the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has held all seven seats for the past 10 years.
Aam Aadmi Party National Spokesperson, Priyanka Kakkar, stated in an interview with The Sunday Guardian, “We stand firmly with the alliance and are ready to make any sacrifice. We will follow every aspect of the alliance. We don’t want to fight elections just for the sake of fighting; we want to fight elections to win.”
She added that while the January meetings were positive, no concrete results have emerged. If the talks do not progress, the party will soon announce the candidates for six seats. Candidates have already been announced for Gujarat, Assam, and South Goa. Priyanka Kakkar emphasized that candidate selection will be based on winnability.
She also commented on the Punjab situation, saying, “We have honoured the wishes of both the Congress state unit and the AAP state unit in Punjab to contest independently.”
Earlier last week, AAP senior leader Sandeep Pathak, in a press conference, offered one seat to the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi. He stated, “On a merit basis, the Congress party does not deserve even a single seat in Delhi. But keeping in mind the ‘dharma of alliance,’ we are offering them one seat in Delhi. We propose that the Congress party contest on 1 seat, and the AAP on 6 seats.”
Delhi has 7 Lok Sabha seats; in the 2019 election, the BJP won all 7. However, the current scenario is different with both Congress and AAP in an alliance, seeking to contest a larger number of seats in Delhi. Despite several meetings, no concrete decisions have been reached yet.