Arvind Kejriwal signals hope on seat-sharing with Congress in Delhi but Akhilesh Yadav talks tough, refuses to join Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra

NEW DELHI: It was a day of mixed fortunes for opposition's fledgling INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc on Tuesday. While on one hand Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal sounded all the right notes on seat-sharing talks with the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh signaled shutting of doors on possible alliance with the grand old party.


Kejriwal, while welcoming the Supreme Court decision to declare AAP-Congress candidate as Chandigarh mayor, called it a victory of the INDIA bloc. The two parties had joined hands to defeat the BJP in the mayor polls. However, the returning officer declared 8 votes invalid leading to BJP's victory which was set aside today by the apex court.

"This is the major victory of the INDIA Alliance - the first and massive. We have snatched away victory from them. They had 'stolen' the election, the votes. But we fought till the end and ultimately won. Those who say that BJP can't be defeated - BJP can be defeated with unity, with good planning and strategy and hard work. These results prove the same," Kejriwal said.

When asked about seat-sharing talks with the Congress in Delhi, Kejriwal expressed optimism and said everything was on the right track. "Alliance with them (Congress) will be announced very soon. For other states too, several rounds of discussions had been held and the talks were in advanced stages," Kejriwal said. AAP has already announced to go alone in Punjab even as it is holding talks with the INDIA bloc for pact in Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, and Goa.

While Kejriwal's remarks come as a ray of hope for the beleaugured Congress, Samajwadi Party played the spoiler for the grand old party by making unilateral announcement of five more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.

This is the third list announced by the party. On January 30, the SP had announced its first list of candidates for 16 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Later it announced 11 more candidates in the second list. With this, Samajwadi party has already announced 32 candidates out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Akhilesh Yadav has refused to join Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is at present in Uttar Pradesh, till the two parties finalise the seat-sharing agreement. According to reports, SP has offered Congress 17 seats. However, the grand old party wants three more seats.

The Congress is hopeful of a solution soon. "We are on the process. Our alliance team is there and Congress president has appointed a team of leaders for alliance. The discussion is going on. It will be finalised at any point of time. Wait for some time," Congress general K C Venugopal said.

With the BJP taking giant strides for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress needs to act fast and finalise its seat-sharing talks. The alliance has already failed in West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee has announced to contest Lok Sabha elections alone.