NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP essentially closed the door on the Congress party as it continued to postpone seat-sharing talks on Tuesday by announcing that it would run candidates in six Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and offer only one to the latter. Additionally, AAP unveiled LS candidates for one Goa constituency and two Gujarati constituencies.
The unexpected declaration hinted at growing problems for India and followed a string of shocks to the opposition in UP and Bihar.
While AAP maintained that it is committed to defeating BJP and that it will remain a part of the opposition alliance, the statement came after a snub to Congress, where general secretary Sandeep Pathak used data from Congress’s previous electoral performances to highlight that the party’s attempts to play ‘Big Brother’, despite its dismal performance, were unlikely to be taken seriously.
If seat-sharing negotiations fall through, AAP will announce more poll candidates.
The AAP’s choice in Delhi differs significantly from the alleged 4-3 agreement, according to Pathak, who stated that the Congress party was only able to get nine out of 250 municipal corporation seats and was unable to win a single Lok Sabha or assembly seat in Delhi. The announcement, which seemed to leave little room for reconciliation, came after the party threatened to unveil more candidates if the seat-sharing negotiations were not formalised within the next two days.
Pathak stated last month, citing “failed attempts to hold discussions” with Congress, “I am sitting here with a heavy heart.” If we had spoken, there would have been no need to take this action.”
AAP has declared its intention to field Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava as its nominee, rejecting the Congress’s request to give up Bharuch in Gujarat, which is connected to the late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, whose daughter is now eager to run. Umesh Bhai Makwana, the Botad MLA from Bhavnagar, confirmed his candidature on behalf of the party.
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“Congress won this seat (Bharuch) forty years ago. You have to break free from “parivarvaad” (nepotism) and concentrate on who can fight the BJP and win which seats if you want to beat the BJP, according to Pathak.
The AAP chose to field Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas from South Goa, another state where the BJP may gain from a multi-polar struggle with friends from India.
In Maharashtra, where the alliance has been weakened by the departure of party veterans like Ashok Chavan in addition to vertical fractures in the Shiv Sena and NCP, the biggest test for India is yet to come. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh would also be reluctant to give the Congress the seats it had reserved for RLD, creating an unclear future.