At India Alliance Meet - Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar And Arvind Kejriwal

The INDIA bloc is holding a meet to discuss the seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and a plan to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections. The meeting is being attended by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, amid reports of rift between AAP and Congress.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that the participation of the alliance parties in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is set to begin on January 14 in Manipur, will also be an agenda at the meeting.

Since coming together in July last year, the Congress and AAP have exchanged passive-aggressive words on making plans for fighting state and Lok Sabha elections on several occasions. But to challenge the BJP at the Centre, the Congress would need the support of the AAP, which runs the government in Delhi and Punjab. The Congress units in both the states are opposed to any truck with the AAP.

AAP and Congress leaders held a meeting yesterday in a bid to resolve their differences. The meeting, held at Congress leader Mukul Wasnik's house, lasted for about two hours and leaders of both the parties described it as a positive one.

The two parties were involved in seat-sharing discussions in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as well, but no consensus was arrived at as both wanted to contest four of the seven seats in Delhi.

The Congress has initiated talks with other parties of the INDIA bloc in different states and is in the process of finalising the seat-sharing arrangements with them.