Behind AAP, Congress’s Delhi pact for LS polls: How the two parties zeroed in on seats

“When we contested separately, we ended up making the situation more amenable for the BJP. In a tri-corner contest, on the one hand, it was the BJP, with its consolidated vote bank that has been seen to remain intact over support for Hindutva or nationalism, and the common vote bank split between the AAP and the Congress. However, that will not be the case this time with both parties fighting together against a common enemy suffering a decade of anti-incumbency,” said an AAP leader.

According to sources, while the AAP relied on the work of its government, the grassroots support for its MLAs, and the popularity of its party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to decide on its four seats, the Congress’s choice of constituencies reflects that it is banking on the city’s minority, reserved category, and economically weak communities.

“The Congress initially pitched a five-two seat-sharing proposal to us based on its vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which it came second in five seats and the AAP in two,” a senior AAP leader said, adding, “Our counter was that the AAP has, in the five years since, formed government in Delhi with a resounding majority (winning 63 out of 70 seats) and has also been able to wrest control of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which was led by the BJP for 15 years. This proves that our popularity has soared since 2019 in the city and that our Lok Sabha vote share should not be a factor.”

The five seats the Congress initially claimed were Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, and West Delhi. It settled for two of these: Chandni Chowk and North East. In addition, the party will also contest from North West Delhi. AAP candidates will be in the fray in New Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi, and East Delhi.

The Yogi factor

According to Congress sources, while the AAP was in favour of coming together in the National Capital “from the word go”, there were differences over the seats the grand old party was claiming “They (AAP) came back to us with a counter to our proposal, which included three seats, North East, Chandni Chowk, and East. But this was not acceptable to us because North East and East Delhi border Uttar Pradesh; one of these will be manageable but not both,” said a senior Congress leader.

“In addition to our ground surveys and analysis of our performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha, 2020 Delhi Assembly, and 2022 MCD polls made us aware that a single rally from Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath was enough to trigger polarisation across North East and East Delhi,” the party functionary added.

Both AAP and Congress insiders admitted that North East Delhi was as much of a sore thumb in the equation as Bharuch was in Gujarat. The other seats that were the bone of contention for the parties were South Goa, Chandigarh, and Kurukshetra in Haryana.

Constituency-wise dynamics considered

The BJP swept each of the seven constituencies in Delhi in 2019 with more than 56% of the vote share. The Congress secured more than 22% of the votes while the AAP garnered a little over 18%.

“As far as the Congress is concerned, the party is more than able and willing to give the BJP a tough fight in minority-dominated Chandni Chowk and North East Delhi as well as the North West seat from where we may field anyone from former BJP MP Udit Raj to former Delhi Minister Jai Kishan,” said a Congress leader.

According to a senior AAP leader, seats such as New Delhi, which includes Kejriwal’s own eponymous Assembly constituency, East, South and West Delhi can be turned into uphill battles for the BJP. “New Delhi is home to a majority of government employees who are angry with the Centre over issues ranging from the new pension scheme to its policies; on the other hand, we have a lot of support from the ground for not just the CM but also local MLAs across the West and South Delhi constituencies.”

“In East, particularly, not only do we have our work in the education sector to pitch given the number of schools that it hosts especially government-run ones, but also the sympathy around the arrest of our senior leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, representing the Patparganj Assembly that falls under the constituency, who has been wrongfully put behind bars in the alleged liquor policy scam,” the leader added.