Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said seat-sharing talks with the Congress are still in progress as going solo in the Lok Sabha poll will make the contest easier for the BJP in the national capital.
The remarks came after Mr. Kejriwal met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over a lunch hosted by Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi at his residence. Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi was also present on the occasion.
He also told reporters that the decision to contest the election in Punjab separately was a “mutual” one and there is “no bad blood” between both INDIA bloc partners.
Earlier, AAP had offered just one seat to the Congress in the national capital while saying it has been tired of protracted negotiations over the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
Discussions between both parties have dragged for over a month now. Leaders of both parties had met on January 12 last time, prompting AAP to say that it is tired of waiting for an arrangement and ready to go alone in the poll.
Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader, who has been privy to the discussions with AAP, said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s offer of one seat was “mere posturing”.
He said both outfits are discussing a formula under which one party will contest on four seats, leaving the rest three for the other.
“If you look at the 2019 Lok Sabha results, the Congress was in second place in five of the seven Delhi seats,” the Congress leader said, adding that his party is leaving no stone unturned for its revival in Delhi, where it has not won any seat in the Lok Sabha and Assembly poll after 2013.
The ruling AAP in Delhi too had drawn a blank in the last two Lok Sabha poll.
Mr. Kejriwal’s statement also holds significance as the Opposition’s fragile alliance has been beset with differences among its partners, with seat-sharing talks collapsing in some States.
Recently, the INDIA bloc received a severe jolt as an important constituent of it — Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) — deserted it to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Speculations are also rife that the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has considerable influence in western Uttar Pradesh, may also join the NDA.
