Lok Sabha polls: Congress, AAP announce seat-sharing pact for Delhi, other states

The AAP will contest four Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and the Congress three, the parties said on Saturday as they announced their seat-sharing arrangements for the national capital, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana.

There are seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi and all were won by the BJP in the 2019 polls.

Addressing a joint press conference here, Congress leader Mukul Wasnik announced that the AAP will contest the New Delhi, the West Delhi, the South Delhi and the East Delhi seats, while his party the Chandni Chowk, the Northeast Delhi and the Northwest Delhi seats.

"In Gujarat, the AAP will contest from Bharuch and Bhavnagar, while the Congress will field its candidates from the remaining 24 seats in the state. In Haryana, the AAP will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Kurukshetra. The Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa," he said. The Congress will also contest the lone seat in Chandigarh, Wasnik said.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sandeep Pathak said the AAP and the Congress have decided to contest Lok Sabha polls separately in Punjab. Wasnik said that even though the two parties will fight on different election symbols, they will work to ensure success on all seven seats in Delhi.

The Congress and the AAP are constituents of the INDIA bloc, formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the upcoming general elections.

The AAP has already announced candidates for the Bharuch and the Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat.

"Today the country needs a strong alternative. This alliance has been formed in the interest of the country. This election will be fought by the INDIA bloc. The BJP's calculations will go wrong because of the alliance," Pathak said.