Possible alliance for rivals AAP, Cong

New Delhi: Bitter rivals Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are understood to have been in touch to explore the possibility of an electoral alliance for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital.
AAP sources said backchannel talks are currently on between the two parties. However, there is no official word on the alliance between them. The buzz got traction after the AAP, for the first time, took part in an opposition meeting last week, which was attended by the Congress.
From the AAP side, talks are being held by a senior party leader and member of the AAP’s apex decision-making body, the Parliamentary Affairs Committee, sources said. Interestingly, the AAP and the Congress have been at loggerheads in Delhi and Punjab. Until August, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that voting for the Congress was akin to voting for the BJP.
The AAP had boycotted the poll for electing deputy chairman to the Rajya Sabha in August, stating that it was upset over the Congress not asking for its support for the joint opposition candidate fielded by it.
The bone of contention is believed to have been the number of the seats the Congress wants to contest. Of the seven seats in Delhi, the AAP is not ready to cede more than two seats for the Congress, sources said.
The AAP and the Congress have, more or less the same voter base in the national capital. (PTI)