The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has issued its strongest statement so far against the Congress after joining the INDIA bloc.

After the party’s political affairs committee meeting, AAP national general secretary (organisation) and MP Sandeep Pathak declared candidates for South Goa and Gujarat’s Bhavnagar. He also offered the Congress one out of seven Lok Sabha seats in the capital.

Pathak told reporters: “We had two official meetings with the Congress on seat sharing on January 8 and 12. The discussions happened on all topics in a good atmosphere, but there was no outcome. There has been no meeting since this in the past month.”

He added: “We were told that there is a delay because the Congress Yatra was taking place, so we kept waiting. During this time, we met many senior Congress leaders, who also had no clarity as to when the next meeting would take place. It will be difficult to win elections like this, and that’s why I am here with a heavy heart.”

Quashing speculation of evenly sharing seats in Delhi, Pathak said: “According to (past polling) data, the Congress is not entitled to a single seat…. But to respect the alliance and the Congress, we offer them one seat in Delhi… I hope that the talks on Delhi will start soon and conclude very soon, so that we all start working. And if there is still no conclusion, then in the next few days we will announce the candidates for those six seats and start our preparation for the elections.”

AAP MLA Venzy Viegas has been declared the candidate from South Goa. The party has two MLAs in Goa and the Congress three. Umesh Makwana has been declared as Bhavnagar’s candidate in addition to its MLA Chaitar Vasava, whose candidature from Bharuch had already been announced.

The AAP is claiming eight seats out of 26 in Gujarat based on its vote share of 12.92 per cent in the 2022 Assembly polls in which it won five out of the state’s 182 seats.

Pointing out that the Congress had last won Bharuch in 1984, Pathak said: “When we asked for Bhrauch, we were told it is an emotional seat for the Congress… We were told that Ahmed bhai had fought from here, and now his daughter would.” Former Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel, who died in 2020, was a three-time MP from the seat.