AAP Offers Congress Three Delhi Seats In INDIA Alliance For 2024 Elections

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has proposed the allocation of three Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in Delhi for the upcoming 2024 general elections, according to sources disclosed to India Today on Monday. This collaboration is part of the INDIA alliance, formed by opposition leaders to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 elections.

In the 2019 elections, the BJP secured all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, holding a substantial 57 percent vote share. In contrast, the Congress obtained 22 percent of the votes, and AAP secured 18 percent. The AAP, currently in power in Delhi since 2023, engaged in a closed-door meeting with Congress to discuss the seat-sharing arrangement across various states. While offering three seats to Congress in Delhi, AAP has expressed interest in securing one Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, three in Haryana, and one in Goa, sources have revealed.

Additionally, the AAP, governing Punjab as well, has shown a willingness to allocate six seats to Congress in the border state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won eight out of 13 seats with a 40.12 percent vote share, while AAP secured one seat with a 7 percent vote share. However, in the 2022 assembly polls, AAP dominated Punjab, securing 92 out of 117 seats, while Congress faced defeat.

AAP has experienced recent growth in Gujarat, winning five assembly seats in the 2022 elections, challenging the BJP's previous sweep of all 26 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The party is optimistic about its performance in Goa and Haryana due to increased vote share in recent assembly polls.

Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in a recent discussion with AICC, emphasized the need for the party to focus on competently contesting 255 seats nationwide. In West Bengal, Congress aims for 6-10 of the 42 seats, while Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, is willing to offer only two seats.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress aims to contest 20 out of 80 seats, but Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party believes that the Congress deserves no more than five seats. In the 2019 elections, Congress won only one Lok Sabha seat in Raebareli, the traditional stronghold of the Gandhi family.