2024
Lok Sabha polls
AAP-Congress resolving thorny seat sharing arrangements
The Aam Aadmi Party has signaled it is not averse to seat adjustment with the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In a major deviation from its earlier stand of having no truck with the Congress, the AAP leadership is inclined to do business in the larger interest of Opposition unity. If sources in both the parties are to be believed, the AAP may sacrifice three out of seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi provided the Congress comes to terms with political reality in Punjab and other states. The thorny issue is Punjab where the Congress had won eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019 while the AAP could win one with the remaining four going to the BJP-SAD. The shocker came in 2022 Assembly polls when AAP decimated the Congress and SAD (Badal). The AAP wants to contest a majority of Lok Sabha seats in Punjab now and this may take more time to resolve.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is leaving nothing to chance to bring all like-minded parties together for the 2024 polls. He is on record to say, “The AAP has its own thinking and we have our own. We are trying to make a minimum program and agree on it, so that we can defeat the BJP first.” Kharge is directly in touch with AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal while Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is working out modalities to work out an alliance with parties.
The outcome of Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll is being watched keenly. But the AAP is clear that it will contest a limited number of LS seats in states where it has a support base. The AAP had contested 434 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. However, in 2019, it contested a limited number of seats.
