The unity of the opposition bloc in INDIA has been dealt a double blow within hours. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced its decision to contest all Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, shortly after Mamata Banerjee’s TMC declared no alliance with the Congress in West Bengal.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stated today, “The Aam Aadmi Party has shortlisted 40 candidates for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. We are getting a survey done before finalising candidates.”
This announcement came on the heels of Banerjee’s declaration that there would be no tie-up with the Congress in Bengal. “I had no discussions with the Congress. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the (rest of the) country… but we are a secular party and, in Bengal, we alone will defeat BJP,” she said.
The Congress has yet to respond to Mann’s announcement. However, in response to Banerjee’s statement, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal asserted that there would be a Congress-Trinamool alliance in Bengal. “Our aim is to decrease BJP seats. We will talk to TMC. Mamata Banerjee is a senior leader in the INDIA alliance. These are small differences, we will sort them out,” he said.
The decisions by Trinamool and AAP to go solo in their strongholds underscore the ongoing tussle between the Congress and regional forces within the INDIA bloc. Regional parties, specifically Trinamool, AAP, and Samajwadi Party, have repeatedly demanded a leading role in their bastions. In contrast, the Congress, determined to play the big brother role, has pushed for a larger share during seat-sharing talks at the state level.
In both Bengal and Punjab, the Congress and the ruling party have been engaged in a series of attacks and counter-attacks over the past few months, despite claims of unity at INDIA meetings. Both state Congress units, led by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Bengal and Amarinder Raja Singh Warring in Punjab, have opposed an alliance at the state level.
The regional parties are unwilling to cede ground in their strongholds, especially in light of Congress setbacks in the recent Assembly polls. Even earlier this month, Warring stated that he had not received any message from the Congress high command on an alliance with AAP in Punjab.
AAP’s ties with the Congress have been fragile ever since opposition parties came together under the INDIA bloc. A meeting of the INDIA bloc in Patna last year turned into a Congress vs AAP blame game. AAP had then stated it would not be a part of INDIA unless Congress cleared the air, revealing the faultlines within the Opposition’s alliance.
Another point of contention that may have led to the impasse over seat-sharing is AAP’s keenness on an alliance on a pan-India level, which the Congress is not willing to accept.
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