AAP’s balancing act: Poll guarantees in Congress-ruled states, but ‘serious’ about INDIA, seat-sharing

This month, Kejriwal pitched his party as an alternative to BJP & ‘ally’ Congress at Bhopal rally. But the party is still ‘keen’ on seat-sharing talks and setting common ground.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s election pitches earlier this month against the Congress may have upset the latter, but his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is still keen to lay the groundwork for the Opposition INDIA alliance, has learnt.   

Just ahead of the two-day INDIA meeting scheduled in Mumbai, sources in the AAP told that the party was still keen on holding seat-sharing talks and finding common ground for the next year’s parliamentary election. The Opposition INDIA alliance is scheduled to hold its next meeting on 31 August — its third in the last three months.  

The development comes days after AAP national convener Kejriwal pitched his party as an alternative to both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in two public meetings — one in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and the second in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. 

While the Congress is pushing hard to reclaim Madhya Pradesh from the BJP, it is fighting to retain power in Chhattisgarh. 

According to the AAP sources, at the Mumbai meeting, the party will underline the need to have coordination committees, which are yet to be formed even after two rounds of deliberations in Patna and Bengaluru.