Citing issues in seat sharing, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday ruled out any chances of an alliance with the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
The Congress however, did not come on record to say that talks had ended.
Mr. Singh said that he was part of the alliance talks between AAP and the Congress. However, the Congress was unwilling to offer seats in Haryana and Punjab.
Seat-sharing issue
“In Punjab, AAP has four MPs and 20 MLAs and the Congress is not ready to give a single seat. In Haryana, where the Congress has only one MP, it is not ready to give a seat. In Chandigarh, where we got a good number of votes last time, here also the Congress is not ready to give a seat. In Delhi, where they do not have a single MLA or MP, they want three seats. I do not understand what type of alliance the Congress wants,” Mr. Singh said.
Mr. Singh said that wherever the Opposition parties were strong, the Congress was fighting the election and not uniting with the Opposition. “Is there a deal struck between the Congress and the BJP? Whether it is Bengal or Andhra or Kerala, by not uniting with the Opposition, the Congress is helping the BJP,” Mr. Singh said.
He ruled out the possibility of any further talks or understanding between the two parties accusing the Congress of not being serious about fighting the BJP.
Cong remains silent
The Congress, however, remained silent about the alliance with party sources saying that senior leader Ahmed Patel met Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit to apprise her of the situation.
“We have a Central Election Committee meeting tomorrow in which the names of candidates will be discussed and perhaps announced. It will be tough however, to defeat the BJP fighting alone in Delhi,” said a senior leader from the Delhi Congress. Ms. Dikshit who has not been in favour of the alliance did not make a statement. Congress sources however said that talks could still be on regarding Delhi.
Earlier in the day, AAP leader Gopal Rai said that the Congress was fighting Opposition parties in different States and trying to defeat them and was not interested in removing Narendra Modi from power.
He said the Congress was confused between whether to save party or defeat Mr. Modi. “Wherever the Opposition is strong in the country, the Congress is trying to weaken them,” Mr. Rai said.
Internal surveys showed that in 33 seats in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and Goa a united Opposition could have defeated the BJP, said Mr. Rai and added that the Congress was trying to defeat the Opposition instead of Mr. Modi.
“The Congress has refused alliances in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. This strategy across the country shows that it is more interested in saving itself that defeating Mr. Modi. If there is no mahagathbandhan, then the country will suffer and the people will not forgive the Congress,” Mr. Rai said.