AAP may go it alone in Delhi and Punjab for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is unlikely to form an alliance with the Congress in Delhi and Punjab for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections owing to opposition from its local units, according to a senior party functionary privy to the negotiations who asked not be named.

The leader added that the party was set to announce its candidates for all 13 parliamentary seats of Punjab and all seven in Delhi, and that meetings to finalise the names were being held in the Capital.

“There was pressure on the AAP from several leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee, DMK leader MK Stalin and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, to not let the anti-BJP vote split in the upcoming elections,” the leader said.

“But the party’s Punjab and Delhi units are opposed to any alliance [with the Congress] due to local conditions. For instance, the Punjab unit has always maintained that they were in the opposition and the Congress was the ruling party. An alliance with the Congress in these two states was a dilemma. After recent statements by Punjab CM captain Amarinder Singh and Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit ruling out an alliance, it has become easier to convince the parties that the Congress is not in favour of a pact,” he added.

Asked about the poll preparations, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said: “Preparations for fighting Lok Sabha elections on all seats in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana are on. The process for candidate finalisation is also in progress. A meeting in this connection is likely to be held in Punjab soon.”

Speculation that the AAP and the Congress could join hands in Delhi and Punjab has been rife of late.

Mamata Banerjee has called huge rally of the opposition parties on January 19 in Kolkata that both AAP and Congress leaders are likely to attend.

First Published: Jan 18, 2019 11:53 IST