LS polls: AAP, Congress seal 4:3 seat-sharing deal for Delhi, latter to set aside seats in 3 other states

New Delhi: After weeks of suspense and wrangling over the allotment of seats in the national capital ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, INDIA partners AAP and Congress on Saturday announced a seat-sharing pact for Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa.

As part of the agreement reached between the ruling party in Delhi and the grand old party, Congress will contest 3 of the 7 Lok Sabha seats in the national capital while the AAP will field candidates in the remaining 4 constituencies.

At a joint press conference of top leaders of the two parties in the national capital on Saturday, Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Wasnik said his party will contest the Chandni Chowk, North East and North West seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

“As you are all aware, Delhi Lok Sabha has 7 seats. AAP will contest 4 seats–New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi–while Congress will contest 3–Chandni Chowk, North East and North West,” Wasnik said.

The general elections in the national capital will mark the first time since independence that the members of the Gandhi family will vote for another party in the New Delhi constituency, a seat the grand old party has set aside for the AAP.

In neighbouring Gujarat, the Congress will contest 24 of 26 Lok Sabha seats, leaving the remaining 2–Bharuch and Bhavnagar– for the AAP.

“Of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the Congress will contest on 24 while the AAP will field candidates for Bharuch and Bhavnagar,” the Congress leader said.

In Haryana, the Congress will contest 8 of the 9 Lok Sabha seats while the AAP will contest the lone seat–Kurukshetra.

“Of the 10 LS seats in Haryana, the Congress will fight on 9 and the AAP will contest one seat– Kurukshetra,” Wasnik said.

He added that the two parties also reached a consensus on the grand old party contesting the prized Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.

“After a long discussion on Chandigarh, the two parties decided that the Congress candidate will contest the seat,” he added.

As part of the seat-sharing deal, the Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa.

Significantly, the AAP contested previous Assembly elections in Goa but fared dismally.

“It was further decided that Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa,” he said.