New Delhi : The Congress and the AAP engaged in a tug-of-war after Delhi Congress leader Alka Lamba declared that the Congress would take all seven seats in the national capital in the forthcoming general elections in 2024. Ms Lamba, while talking to the media, said, “About 40 senior leaders presented their views in meetings. After a three-hour meeting, it was decided that the party will contest elections for all parliamentary seats” However, the Congress rejected Alka Lamba’s declaration to contest for these seats alone, but another party leader, Sandeep Dikshit, defended her.

Few leaders in the Congress believe that an alliance with the AAP would undoubtedly pose a major challenge to the BJP. Many believed that the AAP was the biggest threat to the Congress at the time of its formation, and they were proved wrong when it replaced the Congress in 2013 and was completely annihilated in the 2015 and 2020 elections. The AAP won 67 of the 70 seats in Delhi Assembly election in 2015 and 64 in 2020, while the Congress did not win a single seat in either election.

According to political pundits, the state leadership is against an alliance with the AAP for this reason. They believe that it would be suicidal to give it a lifeline at this stage. The AAP is being investigated on corruption charges against its senior officials, including former deputy CM Mannish Sisodia and former health minister Satyander Jain, who have been detained in Tihar for months. The incumbent chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejrieal is also under fire for the liquor scam and general corruption in the newly constructed CM house in the capital.

In the past, the AAP has tried to establish itself in many states of the country. Their efforts have not yielded satisfactory results. Its recent victory in Punjab, though remarkable, is not enough to dethrone the Congress as the national party.

The Congress, a 137-year-old party, is present in every state and has an organisational structure in virtually all of them. The AAP has a long way to go before it can challenge the Congress nationwide.

Growing tensions between the AAP and the Congress over the alliance ahead of the 2024 general elections could have an impact on assembly elections in three states this year.

Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, while the BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh. Moreover, the Lok Sabha elections are also likely to affect Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The Lok Sabha elections could affect a total of eight states, the most important of which are MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.

Apart from the assembly elections, the fight in states like Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat could be difficult if the picture of the AAP-Congress coalition is not clear. In the Gujarat assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party won only five seats but wounded the Congress. In Punjab, the AAP defeated the Congress. Even though the AAP is not represented in the Parliament despite its government in Delhi, it can influence the Congress. The BJP holds all seven seats in Delhi.