The people of Delhi have decided that the AAP will win all seven Lok Sabha seats in the nation capital, said party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday. “They are stopping us here in Punjab and, in Delhi, they obstruct any work that I try to do. But, friends, the people of Delhi have decided – Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats – the people of Delhi have decided that they will make the AAP win on all seven seats,” he said while inaugurating a power plant in Punjab.
Kejriwal’s statement comes amid seat-sharing talks between the AAP and Congress, both part of the INDIA bloc. With this announcement, the question remains if there is still room for negotiations for Delhi. But, it may be a pressure tactic to nudge the grand old party into finalising seats as it is too early to write off an AAP-Congress alliance there.
News18 had earlier reported that if there is an inordinate delay on part of the Congress in finalising talks, the AAP might go ahead and declare candidates for constituencies that it considered winnable.
On Saturday (February 10), the Delhi chief minister said the AAP will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and the one Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh. “Two years ago, you had blessed us by giving 92 out of 117 seats. You had scripted history. Today, with folded hands, I seek your blessings again. In another two months, Lok Sabha elections will be held. Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha seats, and one seat in Chandigarh. In all, there are 14 seats. In the coming 10 to 15 days, the AAP will declare candidates for all 14 seats. I request you to bless us the same way that you had done two years ago; make AAP win in all 14 seats. You have to vote for jhaadu. We have to sweep all 14 seats by a huge majority,” Kejriwal said at a rally in Khanna in Ludhiana district.
On February 13, the highest decision-making body of the AAP – the political affairs committee – will meet to finalise candidates for Goa, Gujarat and Haryana. Despite being a critical constituent of the INDIA bloc, the AAP has already unilaterally declared one candidate – Chaitar Vasava from the Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. It has also declared three candidates – Manoj Dhanowar, Bhaben Chowdhury and Rishi Raj – from Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Sonitpur in Assam.
Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, a key negotiator in talks within the INDIA bloc, said the party was “tired of talks” that led to “no consequence” and expected other parties in the opposition front to “accept” the AAP candidates.
“I would urge and request the INDIA alliance, all partners to sort all pending and outstanding issues. All the seat-sharing talks should be sorted and brought to conclusion,” Pathak said.
“We have mutually decided that the AAP and Congress will fight separately in Punjab for the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
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