New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have forged an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The parties have announced their seat-sharing arrangements for Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. In Gujarat, the Congress will fight for 24 seats, AAP for 2; in Haryana, the Congress will vie for 9 seats, AAP for one seat; in Delhi, AAP will have the upper hand with four seats, the Congress with 3 seats.
“Congress will contest on 24 seats out of 26 in Gujarat. AAP will field its candidates on 2 seats – Bharuch and Bhavnagar,” said Mukul Wasnik, Congress general secretary and MP. “In Haryana, which has 10 Lok Sabha seats, Congress will contest on 9. AAP will have its candidates on 1 seat – in Kurukshetra,” he added.
Delhi | Congress and AAP announce seat-sharing in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa
In Delhi (7 seats), Congress to contest on 3 and AAP on 4
In Gujarat (26 seats), Congress to contest on 24 and AAP on 2 (in Bharuch and Bhavnagar)
In Haryana (10 seats), Congress to… pic.twitter.com/vCauAdvkUm
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In Delhi, AAP will compete in New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi; the Congress will challenge in Chandni Chowk, North East and North West seats. Wasnik said that after a long discussion, it was agreed that the Congress will contest in the Chandigarh seat. In Goa, the Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats.
The two parties did not comment on Punjab, where AAP had formed a government in 2022 after ousting the Congress. Earlier this month, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal declared that his party will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. AAP and Congress, former adversaries in Punjab and Delhi, had contested the Chandigarh mayoral elections in alliance last month and won with the Supreme Court’s intervention.
“The country is facing a grave situation – the BJP Government is destroying all institutions one by one, the elections are being ‘rigged’ and Opposition leaders are being jailed to win elections, the farmers are being treated unjustly, the people of the country are suffering from unemployment and inflation…the country needs an honest and strong alternative,” said AAP MP Sandeep Pathak after announcing the alliance.
“With that in mind, we set aside our own political interests and kept the interest of the nation in mind. We came together in this alliance. The country is more important than the party. This election will not be fought as Congress versus AAP, but as INDIA versus BJP,” he added.