The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made an alliance offer to the Congress on Tuesday in Delhi, only days after declaring that it will fight all 13 seats in Punjab. However, the offer was accompanied by a scathing criticism from the party, which said that the Congress did not deserve a single seat in Delhi based on merit.
Sandeep Pathak, an AAP MP, indicated that the party wants the Congress to fight only one of Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats. According to the offer, the remaining seats would be contested by the ruling party.
“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 the Congress party to fight on 1 seat and AAP on 6 seats,” he said.
In the 2019 general election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took all seven seats. The Congress came in second place with more than 22% of the vote. The AAP ranked third on the list.
Since then, AAP has done well in both Delhi and Punjab. The party beat the BJP and the Congress in the Delhi Assembly and municipal elections. It also toppled the Congress administration in Punjab.
The AAP and the Congress Party are INDIA bloc partners who are discussing seat-sharing deals in Punjab and Delhi. However, their state entities have been reluctant to create an alliance.
Last week, Arvind Kejriwal announced that AAP would contest all 13 seats in Punjab and one in Chandigarh, calling the curtain on the alliance in the state.
“Two years back, you gave us blessings. You gave 92 out of 117 seats to us [in Assembly elections], you created history in Punjab. I have come to you with folded hands, asking for one more blessing. Lok Sabha elections will be held in two months. For Lok Sabha elections, Punjab has 13 seats and one from Chandigarh – a total of 14 seats. In the next 10–15 days, AAP will declare its candidates in all of these 14 seats. You have to make AAP sweep all these 14 seats with a majority,” he said on Saturday.
The announcement came weeks after the two parties unsuccessfully contested the Chandigarh mayoral elections together.
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