AAP, Congress disagree on seat-sharing in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Discussions for seat-sharing between Congress and

AAP

have begun. Sources, however, said that the two parties had failed to arrive at a consensus so far. While Congress is learnt to have pressed hard for three of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, AAP was willing to concede only two .


Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit gave a cryptic answer when reporters asked her about the impending alliance. She said the party “will stay as it is...Rest assured, we will remain as we are.” She has been opposed to any tie-up with AAP.

Congress’s formula for Delhi is based on a 4:3 ratio calculated on the basis of seats won by Congress and AAP in the 2017 municipal elections. AAP had won 49 seats and Congress 31 after getting 26% and 21% vote share, respectively. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, AAP polled 33% of the votes while Congress got 15%. Put together, the vote share of Congress and AAP was 48%, two percentage points more than the BJP’s 46%.

AAP argues that since Congress did not win a single seat in Delhi in 2014 and drew a blank in the 2015 assembly elections too — when AAP won 67 out of 70 seats — it should settle for only two seats. “AAP also did not win any seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Delhi and its vote share has declined from 54% in the 2015 assembly elections to 26% in the 2017 municipal polls of Delhi,” retorted a Congress leader when asked about AAP’s stance.

AAP has stated that it will contest all 13 seats in Punjab alone since chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is opposed to any alliance with AAP . It demanded Chandigarh but was snubbed with Congress nominating Pawan Kumar Bansal from there. The party is keen on putting up a good show in Punjab where it has four MPs now. Its local unit is also not too keen on a tie-up with Congress.

Meanwhile, Haryana Congress is reportedly more interested in having an alliance with Jannayak Janata Party, a breakaway faction of Indian National Lok Dal, launched last year by Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala. “AAP is not as strong a force in Haryana as JJP. AAP is demanding two seats which we are not ready to give,” said a Congress leader. CM Arvind Kejriwal recently proposed to Rahul Gandhi an alliance involving AAP-Congress and JJP in Haryana .

The seat-sharing formula is likely to be announced before April 16 when the nomination process for Lok Sabha elections in Delhi will begin.