AAP may give in to Cong demand of 3 seats in Delhi if tie-ups in Haryana, Chd sealed
After weeks of deliberations and negotiation with Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress has agreed in principle to enter into an alliance with its bitter rival in the national Capital in the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday held a high-level meeting with Delhi Congress president and former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, AICC general secretary and Delhi affair incharge PC Chacko, KC Venugopal and other senior leaders at his residence, where it was reportedly decided to go ahead with alliance with the AAP.
While the Congress has decided to join hands with AAP, the Kejriwal outfit is still tight-lipped about the seat sharing. The AAP wants the Congress to forge alliance in Haryana and Chandigarh as quid pro quo and also unequivocally support full Statehood demand for Delhi.
“An alliance with the Congress is possible only if the party agrees to do it for 10 seats in Haryana, seven seats in Delhi and the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Also, the party should also openly declare support to full Statehood for Delhi if it wants to forge an alliance with the AAP,” the source said.
The AAP has reportedly conveyed to the Congress that it would support the grand old party in Chandigarh only if it gets to contest three seats in Haryana — Faridabad, Gurgaon and Karnal. “The party wanted to include Punjab in the pre-conditions for an alliance, but that was left out considering Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s rigid stance,” the source said.
Although the AAP is pressing for a 5:2 (five for AAP and two for Congress), the Congress has demanded “nothing less than” three seats in Delhi. The AAP may concede to the Congress demand if the party reciprocates to AAP’s demand.
As per the seat-sharing formula being worked out, the Congress may get New Delhi, Chandni Chowk and North West Delhi seats while the AAP may contest from East Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi and North East Delhi. The final seat sharing announcement is expected to be soon.
This could have serious implication for the BJP which won all even seats in Delhi in 2014 polls.
According to sources in the Congress, “Its formula for Delhi is based on a 3:4 ratio (Congress-3 and AAP-4) is calculated on the basis of seats won by them in the 2017 Municipal polls in Delhi. the AAP had won 49 seats and the Congress 31 after getting 26 per cent and 21 per cent vote share respectively.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the AAP polled 33 per cent of the vote share while the Congress got only 15 per cent. Put together, the vote share of Congress and AAP was 48 per cent, just two per cent more than the BJP vote share of 46 per cent.
Majority of the Delhi Congress leaders as well as members of the Congress Working Committee are for an alliance with AAP because it is the only way that the Congress can win seats in Delhi.
Several senior Opposition leaders, including Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee, had urged the Congress for tie-up with the AAP.