Bhagwant Mann promises 13-0 AAP win in Punjab amid alliance talks with Congress

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said his party AAP will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The remark comes at a time when senior leaders of the two parties are holding dialogues to finalise seat sharing in Punjab and Delhi. “It will be 13-0 (in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections). The AAP will win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab,” Mann said today.

Last year, the Delhi and Punjab units of the Congress and AAP showed reluctance in stitching an alliance against the BJP. Leaders of both the parties had said they would contest the elections separately. However, in 2024, the INDIA bloc partners renewed their efforts to arrive at an agreement. Last week, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

In a major breakthrough, the AAP and the Congress on Monday agreed to contest the January 18 mayoral post in Chandigarh as allies. AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar Tita will contest the polls for the mayor’s post, whereas Congress’s Gurpreet Singh Gabi and Nirmala Devi will fight for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor respectively.

However, Mann’s remark suggests the Aam Aadmi Party’s discussions with the Congress for seat distribution hasn’t reached advanced levels yet.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are bitter rivals in the two states. It was the AAP that dislodged the Congress from power in both states.

The Chandigarh agreement is being seen as the first concrete steps taken by the two parties towards a larger partnership in Punjab.

In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors. It also has an ex-officio member MP who has voting rights.

The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor in the House.

If cross-voting doesn’t happen in concealed voting, the AAP-Congress alliance is expected to score a major win.

In the 2019 elections, the Congress won eight seats. The AAP only one seat.

However, the political situation in Punjab has drastically changed over the last five years. AAP, a minor player in Punjab in 2019, now rules the state. Also, Congress is entering the elections without the leadership of Amarinder Singh, who has since joined the BJP.