The Congress and the AAP on Monday held a meeting to discuss seat sharing in Punjab and Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls and decided to meet again to give a final shape to the arrangement between the two parties of the INDIA bloc.
Insiders said the discussions mainly revolved around “cooperation” in seven Parliamentary seats and how they could together to defeat the BJP”. “The issue of the seat-sharing is expected to be discussed in the presence of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal in the next meeting,” insiders said. Another insider said AAP is demanding Loksabha seats not just in Delhi and Punjab, but also in Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.
After the talks, Congress MP Mukul Wasnik said scores of issues for the elections were discussed. The leaders of the two parties discussed possibilities of seat sharing but did not divulge any details. "We had a very good meeting. Senior AAP leaders were sent to today's meeting for holding discussions with us on behalf of Arvind Kejriwal. The National Alliance Committee (NAC) formed by the Congress president held discussions with AAP leaders”, Wasnik said after the meeting.
"In this meeting, we have had in-depth discussions with senior leaders regarding seat sharing and various topics. After a few days, we will meet again and the final discussion on seat sharing will take place. We will give a final shape to the seat-sharing plans later. Together we will contest the elections with vigorous preparation and defeat the BJP," Wasnik, who is the convener of Congress' NAC, said.
"It is not proper to reveal what transpired during the discussions. One has to wait for sometime. We have already decided to contest elections together. Congress and AAP are an important part of the INDIA alliance," the Congress leader said.
Top Congress leaders and members of the seat-sharing committee of the party Mukul Wasnik and Ashok Gehlot were present at the meeting here while those from the AAP included Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak and Delhi cabinet ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj. Apart from Wasnik and Gehlot, Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, and senior party leaders Salman Khurshid and Mohan Prakash were also present at the meeting.
Sources said the AAP had sought to make a strong case to stake a claim to Northeast Delhi and were in favour of contesting four to five of the seven Parliamentary seats in the capital and leaving the rest to the Congress.
The national capital sends seven members to the Lok Sabha and the AAP, which is in power in Delhi, is willing to offer only two seats to the Congress. At present, all the seven seats are with the BJP. The AAP is in power in Delhi and Punjab.
Goa, Punjab and Gujarat was not on the agenda as AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann campaigning in Gujarat, and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha not in the country. The Congress state units in both the states are opposed to any truck with the AAP. The Congress has already initiated talks with other parties of the INDIA bloc in different states and is in the process of finalising the seat-sharing arrangement with them.
