PATIALA/JALANDHAR: Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema's statement, that the AAP would contest the upcoming parliamentary elections in the state in alliance with Congress "in order to save the country, its democracy and Constitution" has left the state leaders of the grand old party baffled as they have been speaking vehemently against any such arrangement.
Replying to a query from mediapersons on whether AAP and Congress in Punjab would contest the Lok Sabha elections together, Cheema said: "Of course. INDIA alliance has been formed to save the country's democracy and constitution. The aim behind the alliance is very big, for which small differences must be kept aside. Our priority is to save the country and its democracy and Constitution."
Sources within the Congress revealed that most of the party leaders were finding it extremely difficult and embarrassing, if not impossible, to take a U-turn, when they had been hurling chosen epithets and pejoratives at the Punjab CM and the AAP, even calling it a 'B' team of the RSS-BJP. They had even been saying that the Congress would contest all the 13 seats in the state and there was no question of seat-sharing with the AAP. "They are now in utter dilemma on the issue and are discussing with one another how to handle this U-turn," said a Congress MLA.
It is for the first time that a senior AAP leader made such an explicit statement on the issue, apparently after clearance from the AAP top brass in Delhi. Cheeman said the central government was hatching conspiracies and trying its best to put down INDIA. "The BJP is afraid of this alliance. There are some political parties in the INDIA alliance that have some differences in their own states. The BJP is attempting to multiply these differences so that INDIA does not get any success," said Cheema.
The Congress high command had dropped hints to Punjab leaders over a month back that seat-sharing was also being mulled. However, it is learnt that the Punjab Congress leaders had been arguing with the party high command that the situation in Punjab was much different from other states, especially Delhi - the only other state where the AAP is a major political player. While in the national capital BJP is very strong and holds all the seven Lok Sabha seats, in Punjab, it ranks fourth, going by the vote share in the 2022 assembly poll and the Jalandhar parliamentary bypoll. In the past, the BJP had been contesting three out of 13 seats in alliance with the SAD.
According to sources in the Punjab Congress, feedback gathered by party leaders at different levels has been overwhelmingly against the alliance. "The party leaders are in a dilemma about how they will justify the move on ground. Another fear is of losing the opposition space in Punjab to the BJP and the SAD-BSP," said the Congress MLA.
Punjab Congress leaders, especially leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and Pradesh Congress Committee president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, have been repeatedly and unequivocally stating that there would be no alliance with the AAP in Punjab. Bajwa has also been arguing that there was no need for any alliance in Punjab as the BJP was not at all a major force in the state.
Apart from Bajwa and Warring, Congress MLAs Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Pargat Singh have also been calling the AAP a 'B' team of RSS-BJP.
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