“Explore the intricacies of political alliances as Congress Admits Seat Sharing Delay After AAP Rejection. Delve into the implications of this setback and the challenges it poses for the upcoming elections.”
AAP voiced its frustration about the lack of advancement in discussions with the Congress party regarding seat sharing.
Congress Admits Seat Sharing Delay After AAP Rejection, acknowledging the delay in reaching a seat-sharing agreement with INDIA bloc members, the Congress party noted the challenge, especially in states like Delhi, Punjab, and West Bengal, where it directly competes with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at the state level, amidst key allies making independent announcements for the Lok Sabha elections.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress’s general secretary overseeing communications, conceded:
“I acknowledge there’s been a minor delay. However, this is challenging as we’re up against several parties at the state level.”
He emphasised:
“The INDIA Alliance is focused on the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. In Delhi and Punjab, we face competition from AAP. However, at the national level, our goal is clear – to defeat the BJP.”
The Aam Aadmi Party delivered a blow to Congress on Tuesday, offering the grand old party only one Lok Sabha seat in Delhi, contrary to earlier reports suggesting a 3-4 formula between Congress and AAP in the capital. AAP MP Sandeep Pathak stated that although the Congress party doesn’t deserve even a single seat in Delhi, in the spirit of alliance, AAP is willing to offer one seat.
He stated:
“We’re not announcing the candidate today. Hopefully, the Delhi meeting will commence soon, reaching a conclusion, allowing us to proceed with our work. If not, we’ll announce candidates for the six seats we’ve identified in the coming days and begin our preparations.”
AAP had previously announced candidates for three Lok Sabha seats in Assam and expressed frustration over the delay in finalizing the seat-sharing formula with Congress. Ramesh acknowledged:
Challenges in Seat-Sharing Dynamics:
Ramesh highlighted that while there are no issues with alliance partners like DMK, NCP, Shiv Sena, and Samajwadi Party, challenges emerge in states like West Bengal and Punjab.
“Organization aims to contest on more seats here, as do AAP and TMC. finding a middle ground, and within a few days, seat-sharing will be finalized.”
Taking advantage of the situation, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticized the Congress party and its leadership. Poonawalla referenced instances where alliance partners expressed a lack of confidence in Congress, implying that the alliance is more focused on marginalizing Congress than defeating the BJP.
He stated:
“Today, yet another vote of no confidence has been passed against the Congress party by its own allies. In every state, it’s evident that no alliance partner has confidence in the Congress party or in Rahul Gandhi. Thus, this is not an alliance of ‘Remove Modi.’ It’s actually an alliance of ‘Remove Congress.'”
On the other hand, Poonawalla added:
“In any case, Congress should be allocated 200 seats or fewer to contest nationwide because Congress and these parties have emerged at the expense of each other’s existence.”
