AAP’s Congress dilemma is that there is no neat give-and-take scenario

Ahead of Friday’s meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders told The Hindu that a lot hinges on unity among these parties considering two of its top leaders are in jail as undertrials and more leaders could be “targeted” by the Central government.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders told The Hindu that a lot hinges on unity among these parties considering two of its top leaders are in jail as undertrials and more leaders could be “targeted” by the Central government.

The party has also taken a decision to agree with ‘one opposition, one seat’ formula for the Lok Sabha election, multiple leaders said.

AAP leaders also said fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha election along with Congress will not be easy because the two parties will have to square up against each other in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections. Seat sharing in Delhi and Punjab – where AAP is the strongest – with the Congress will also be a tricky issue.

“Opposition unity is extremely important for us. The BJP will finish AAP and even jail [party chief Arvind] Kejriwal if it comes back to power [in 2024],” an AAP leader said.

On seat sharing, the leader said AAP would be ready to give three out of seven seats in Delhi but take the lion’s share in Punjab “as Congress is not strong there”.

In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, an attempt at seat sharing in Delhi and Haryana between AAP and Congress didn’t materialise and the BJP won all seven seats in Delhi. The Congress came second in five seats despite having no MLA in the House while AAP, with a crushing majority of 66 of the 70 Delhi Assembly seats, was runner-up in only two Lok Sabha constituencies.

Similarly in Punjab, out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, Congress won eight in 2019 and AAP only one, but the former won only 18 seats in the 2022 Assembly election as AAP swept to power with 92 seats.