New Delhi: In a bid to strengthen their political clout, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have decided to fight the Chandigarh Mayor elections as allies. The two parties, which are also in talks for a possible alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, have agreed to share the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor among themselves. Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal told ANI that the decision was taken after mutual discussions between the two parties.
He said that the AAP will field its candidate for the mayor’s post, while the Congress will contest for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts. He expressed confidence that their joint candidate from the INDIA bloc will win with a good margin. He also said that the Congress and the AAP have a common understanding on national issues and have reached a consensus with other opposition parties to save democracy.
“Lok Sabha elections are to come later; before that, the corporation elections have come. We have been discussing the same and it has been decided that AAP will contest for the post of mayor and Congress will contest for the post of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The result of this will be that our candidate from the INDIA bloc will be successful with a good majority,” he said.
“On national issues, we know that there is agreement between Congress and AAP. Meetings have been held between different parties in which a consensus has been reached. At this time, everyone has gathered together to save the feelings of democracy,” he added.
The Chandigarh Mayor elections will see a total of 35 councillors casting their votes. The BJP, which is the ruling party at the centre, has the support of 14 councillors and one MP. The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress has 7 councillors. The Shiromani Akali Dal has 1 councillor. To secure a majority, 18 votes are needed, of which the BJP has the highest of 15 votes.
However, if the AAP and the Congress combine their votes, they will have a total of 20 votes, enough to defeat the BJP.
The alliance between the Congress and the AAP comes at a time when the two parties are also exploring the possibility of joining forces for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, a meeting of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was held in Delhi.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AAP MP Raghav Chadha were also present in the meeting at Kharge’s residence. The two parties are likely to share seats in Delhi, Punjab, Goa and Haryana, where they have a significant presence.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday congratulated Kharge for being named as the “chairperson” of the opposition’s INDIA bloc. The Delhi Minister said that Kharge is a big leader and all alliance partners respect him and listen to him. Making him the chairperson is a good sign, he added. “He is a big leader. All alliance partners respect him and listen to him. Making him the chairperson is a good sign,” he said.
