The Opposition INDIA bloc gains momentum as AAP and Congress forge seat-sharing deals in Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Goa…reports Asian Lite News
In a significant development for the Opposition INDIA bloc, the AAP and Congress forged seat-sharing pacts in Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Goa ahead of the impending Lok Sabha elections.
Out of the seven seats in Delhi, the AAP will contest on the four Lok Sabha seats of New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi while the Congress has been allocated three seats, namely Chandni Chowk, North East and North West Delhi.
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Though an agreement couldn’t be reached in Punjab, the AAP has been given one seat, Kurukshetra in Haryana while the Congress will be contesting on nine seats in the state.
During the last Lok Sabha elections, the AAP and Congress did not win a single seat in Delhi. Out of the seven seats, the Congress was the runner up on five while the AAP was runner up on two seats, i.e. North West and South Delhi.
Addressing a joint Press conference with AAP minister Atishi, Congress General Secretary and MP Mukul Wasnik stated that out of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi the former would contest on four seats while the grand old party would fight on three.
As an agreement couldn’t be reached between the two parties regarding Punjab, both will contest the polls separately there. However, as per the seat sharing pact, the Congress will field its candidate from Chandigarh.
In Gujarat, the Congress is contesting on 24 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats, while the AAP has been given the two seats of Bharuch and Bhavnagar.
In Goa, the Congress candidates will contest on both Lok Sabha seats.
Addressing the media, Atishi said that the AAP has been an important pillar of the INDIA bloc from the beginning.
“We have been working for the success of the INDIA bloc. While negotiations and seat distribution with the Congress took time, the AAP has consistently made it clear that we are part of the alliance and will contest elections together,” she said.
Meanwhile, AAP on Saturday declared support to Congress for both of the Lok Sabha seats in Goa, after a seat-sharing agreement reached between them.
The AAP, which had recently declared Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas as its candidate for South Goa Lok Sabha seat, has now withdrawn his candidature.
On Saturday, Goa AAP President Amit Palekar and GPCC President Amit Patkar jointly addressed a Press conference, wherein they appealed to other opposition parties Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP) to support them.
RGP had already declared their candidate a month ago, while GFP has said that they will not contest the Lok Sabha election.
“For us state and nation is first… and hence for the betterment of the state and our country, we have decided to withdraw from the fray and lend our support to Congress candidates for both seats of Goa. Congress will fight these both seats under INDIA bloc,” Amit Palekar said, adding that a decision has been taken by their leaders to defeat BJP.
He said that ‘seat-sharing arrangements’ have been made by both parties to fight together against the BJP.
Congress leader Amit Patkar thanked his party leaders along with AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal for giving both seats to the grand old party. “After deliberation over this seat sharing, it was decided that Congress should fight the South Goa seat for betterment of Goa. I appeal to parties who are also fighting against BJP to support us,” Patkar said.
Patkar said that it is a clear message that Congress will win both the seats, with help of AAP and other opposition political parties.
‘Congress to Go Solo in Bengal, TMC in Dilemma’
Claiming that the ruling Trinamool Congress is in a “dilemma” over the alliance, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday said the grand old party will contest the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the state “alone.”
Addressing a press conference at the Congress party office in Murshidabad, Chowdhury said, “We have said this many times that Congress will fight alone in West Bengal.”
“They (TMC) are in a dilemma. There should be an official yes or no from the party Supremo (Mamata Banerjee). They are not saying officially that the process of forging the alliance has ended. Because they are in a dilemma,” the state Congress chief said.
He further said that TMC is unable to decide on the alliance because of their dilemma while hinting at ongoing dialogue between the parties.
“The first dilemma is a section of the party believes that if they contest alone, without the INDIA alliance, then the minorities of West Bengal will vote against them. One section of the TMC wants the alliance to continue. Another section is in another dilemma that if the alliance is given more importance in Bengal, then the Modi government will use ED, and CBI against them. Because of these two dilemmas, the TMC has not been able to make a clear decision.Maybe there are some talks in Delhi, but I don’t have any such information,” he said.
Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee broke ties with the Congress, stating that the party will go solo in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls, giving a big dent to the opposition INDIA bloc.
“I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat the BJP,” the TMC supremo said.
Meanwhile, after weeks of suspense and wrangling over the allotment of seats in the national capital ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, INDIA partners AAP and Congress earlier in the day announced a seat-sharing pact for Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa.
Also, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday announced a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Apart from its traditional strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Congress will also contest Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Kanpur. (ANI)
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