Congress finally agrees to forge alliance with AAP

New Delhi: After weeks of deliberations and negotiations with Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress has finally agreed in principle to make alliance with the newbie party in the national capital.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday held a high-level meeting with Delhi Congress president and former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, All India Congress Committee general secretary and in-charge of the party’s state unit P.C. Chacko and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal and other senior leaders at his residence at 12 Tughlaq Road where they decided to stitch together to go for an alliance with the AAP.

As per fresh formula, the Congress may get New Delhi, Chandni Chowk and North West Delhi seats while the AAP may contest from East Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi and North East Delhi. The final seat sharing announcement is expected to be made shortly. If this formula of seat sharing is worked out between the two outfits, it will become very difficult for the BJP to retain all the seven Lok Sabha seats.

A highly placed source in the Congress said that final nitty gritties are being worked out on the seat sharing formula which may be formally announced very soon. It is learnt that the seat sharing arrangement between the two parties would be worked on the basis of the vote share that the two had secured in the last municipal elections.

Sources said that the AAP leadership is  trying to bargain further, saying that it will stitch an alliance with the Congress in Delhi only if Mr Gandhi’s party agrees to fight the Lok Sabha polls jointly in Haryana and Chandigarh too. According to them, as another pre-condition for firming up an alliance, the AAP has asked the Congress to openly declare its support to full statehood for Delhi.

“An alliance with the Congress is possible only if the party agrees to do it for 10 seats in Haryana, seven seats in Delhi and the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. Also, the party should also openly declare support to full statehood for Delhi if it wants to forge an alliance with the AAP,” the source said.