I.N.D.I.A bloc partners Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seat-sharing in Delhi is almost finalised and according to reports, out of the total seven seats in the national capital, the AAP is likely to contest on four while the 'Grand Old Party' on three. Apart from Delhi, AAP and Congress are likely to contest elections together in Gujarat and Haryana. However, the seat-sharing in Gujarat has not been finalised with just weeks left for the general elections. The polling scheduled is yet to be announced by the election commission.
According to reports, the announcement regarding the seat-sharing between Congress and AAP is delayed due to the Grand Old Party's sentimets attached to the Bharuch seat because of late Congress leader Ahmad Patel's work in that area.
Ahmad Patel started his political career by contesting local body elections in the Bharuch. He was selected by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1977 to contest elections for the Sixth Lok Sabha from Bharuch. Patel went on to win the elections, and also won subsequent Lok Sabha polls in 1980 and 1984, continuing to represent Bharuch through 1989.
Reports further said that Rahul Gandhi is also not in favour of giving this seat to AAP. However he said that a final decision should be of the National Alliance Committee and party president.
Meanwhile, reacting after reports surfaced that Congress may give Bharuch seat to AAP, party leader and Ahmad Patel's daughter Mumtaz said, "The talks are still on and the final decision is yet to be made. We had hopes that this seat would remain with Congress but when this information came, people felt demoralised and sad. We have heard that Rahul Gandhi has also objected to the Bharuch seat being given to AAP and are hopeful that it will remain with Congress. Traditionally, this is a Congress seat. They (AAP) want an alliance because they want the support of Congress."
There are 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. In 2019 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won all 26 of them.
While both AAP and Congress have decided to contest upcoming general elections in alliance in Delhi and Gujarat, but the parties decided not to align in Punjab, an AAP ruled state under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
In another development, the Congress has also announced seat-sharing with Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress will contest on 17 seats while SP and other parties will fight on remaining 63. UP has a total of 80 Lok Sabha seats.
Kejriwal will be arrested in next few days, claims AAP
The AAP on Friday claimed the CBI is planning to arrest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the next few days and will serve him a notice by the evening.
While the party did not say in which case Kejriwal is likely to be arrested, it said that this was being done to prevent the AAP from stitching an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the BJP is scared of the two parties coming together.
While there was no immediate response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the AAP's claims, the BJP said AAP leaders are trying to create confusion and generate sympathy for Kejriwal.
The Congress and the AAP are likely to have a seat-sharing pact in Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana for the Lok Sabha polls and the talks between the two sides are in the final stages, sources said on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi cabinet minister and senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said as soon as reports of finalisation of seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the AAP started coming in, the ED sent a seventh summons to Kejriwal in the excise policy case.
With inputs from agencies
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