Congress has refuted party leader Alka Lamba’s claim that they have been instructed to prepare to contest all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi next year, and said that no such issue was discussed in the meeting held by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.
This comes after Alka Lamba yesterday (August 16) said that it was decided in the meeting that Congress will fight on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 polls.
“We have been told how to prepare for the 2024 election. Before the Delhi meeting, the leadership has met our people in 18 states. It has been decided all Congress leaders will immediately go to work on the seven seats in Delhi to win them. Seven months are left. All party workers have been asked to prepare for all seven seats,” Lamba had said.
The remark drew flak from the Aam Aadmi Party which is also a part of the I.N.D.I.A Opposition bloc.
AAP reacts
AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that there is nothing known as of now regarding seat-sharing.
The AAP said that if Congress has come to a decision to contest all Lok Sabha seats in Delhi next year, then there is no point staying in the Opposition alliance and further decision on the matter will be taken by the party.
Congress' clarification
Soon after the AAP’s reaction, Deepak Babaria, the Congress's in-charge of Delhi stepped in to issue a clarification and said that Alka Lamba’s remark was her own opinion and no there was no discussion held on seat-sharing in yesterday’s meeting.
“We did not discuss that issue in today's meeting. The discussion was about how to strengthen the party in Delhi,” he said.
AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj responded to Babaria’s remark and said that Congress has issued a clarification on the remark of the spokesperson.
“Congress has given a clarification on the remarks of their spokesperson...A spokesperson of any party cannot take a decision on seat-sharing in any state, this is an important issue and such issues are discussed in the presence of all the parties. Any spokesperson cannot decide this,” he said.
Notably, some leaders of Delhi Congress are still sour over AAP, the way it decimated the grand-old party, and the allegations its leaders levelled against Congress leaders until not too long ago.
The next meeting of joint Opposition will take place in Mumbai later this month. AAP has been a part of both Opposition meetings held in Patna and Bengaluru.
(With ANI inputs)
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