AAP moots tie-up with Cong on 18 seats

NEWDELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday once again reached out to the Congress for an alliance in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, but the latter insisted that any tie-up be limited to the national capital, prolonging the suspense over their on again-off again efforts to forge a united front against the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

In his first remarks on the issue, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the Congress should consider joining hands with the AAP in at least 18 parliamentary seats, if not 33 as had been initially proposed by his party.

Sisodia’s comments came a day after the Congress said it had been “compelled” to go it alone in Delhi because of AAP’s insistence on extending an alliance to other states..

“In the last one week, meetings were held between the AAP and the Congress and we proposed alliance on 33 seats in Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab. We understood when they (Congress) said joining hands in Punjab was not possible because AAP is in-principle opposition there. Goa, it is too late now, as the last date of withdrawal of nomination is also gone,” he said.

“But, there is still time to defeat the Modi-Shah duo on 18 seats – seven in Delhi, 10 in Haryana and one in Chandigarh,” Sisodia said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

“The Congress should realize there is no point of an alliance in Delhi alone,” he said.