'Congress Doesn't Deserve Even 1 Seat': AAP Demands 6 Out Of 7 LS Seats In Delhi, Faces Pushback

Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely reaffirmed party's status as the largest party in the I.N.D.I.A bloc as the AAP said it would offer only one seat in Delhi citing previous Lok Sabha performance.

New Delhi: The AAP on Tuesday expressed its intention to contest six out of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, leaving just one for the Congress party. The Aam Aadmi Party did not shy away from asserting that the Congress, a senior I.N.D.I.A bloc ally, does not even deserve even one seat considering its performance in the previous polls in the national capital, reported news agency PTI.

However, Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely asserted they are the only party that is highly prepared to contest the polls and remarked that seat sharing cannot be decided at press conferences. 

Sandeep Pathak, expressed disappointment over the lack of communication from Congress regarding seat-sharing talks, despite two official meetings held earlier on 8 and 12 January. He emphasised that while the atmosphere of the discussions was positive, no concrete outcomes were reached.

"They have been waiting for more than a month for the seat-sharing talks for Delhi to resume but there has been no communication (from the Congress). We were told that Congress party's (Bharat Jodo Nyay) Yatra is going on and there will be delay. We got to meet senior Congress leaders during this but even they had no idea", he remarked, as per PTI.

The AAP and the Congress have already announced that they will go solo in Punjab in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls since their state leaders have been opposed to forging any alliance. "As seat sharing talks have not been held regarding Delhi for over a month," Pathak said he was sitting with a heavy heart. "These things would not have been necessary if there would have been talks", Pathak added. 

The AAP has proposed to contest six out of seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, leaving just one seat for the Congress, citing statistics and merit as the basis for their decision.

Sandeep Pathak, representing AAP, highlighted the party's rationale behind the proposal, pointing out that Congress currently holds no seats in the Lok Sabha or the Delhi Assembly. Additionally, Pathak referenced Congress' performance in the recent Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, where they won only nine wards out of 250. Despite these statistics, AAP emphasised their commitment to alliance principles by offering Congress one seat, reported PTI.

Congress Cites Previous LS Performance Over Seat-Sharing

In response, Arvinder Singh Lovely of the Congress stressed that the allocation of Lok Sabha seats cannot be decided through press conferences. He highlighted Congress' preparedness and its efforts in conducting meetings across all seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi, as per PTI.

"The BJP had won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, AAP's vote share was 18.1 per cent and it had bagged the third spot while the Congress had polled in 22.5 per cent of the votes and was second on five of the seven Lok Sabha seats", PTI quoted Lovely as saying.

Additionally, he reaffirmed Congress' status as the largest party in the I.N.D.I.A bloc and its dedication to collaborating with opposition parties to uphold democratic values, reported PTI.

This comes as the AAP has announced candidates in Goa and Gujarat mounting further pressure on Congress for seat-sharing talks.