New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, both part of the INDIA bloc, held discussions on Monday to discuss seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. AAP has kept its stand on contesting in an alliance with the Congress in five states, including Punjab, and the discussion has so far been positive, the party’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai said on Tuesday.
“The (seat-sharing) talks have begun between the two parties. We kept our stand on contesting in an alliance (with Congress) in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Gujarat. Till now, there have been positive discussions,” he said on the sidelines of a press conference, PTI reported. However, the AAP leader said that there was “no discussion” on specific seats in these states. The Congress units in the AAP ruling states like Delhi, and Punjab are opposed to any truck with the AAP.
In Punjab, the Congress and the AAP have openly traded barbs over contesting the elections in an alliance.
“We want to contest the elections in an alliance. In the next meeting, the talks about seats will be held. When we are in an alliance, we have to take an official stand. For that, both the parties will make their preparations and then discuss,” Rai was quoted as saying.
The Congress and the AAP decided to meet again to give a final shape to the arrangements between the two key constituents of the INDIA opposition bloc.
