Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member of Parliament (MP) Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said the January 18 Chandigarh mayoral polls will be a curtain raiser to the INDIA bloc versus the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) battle and will set the tone for the Lok Sabha polls results. The AAP and the Congress, two bitter political rivals, have come together in the Chadnigarh polls to take on the BJP.
“INDIA alliance is going to contest its first election. The Chandigarh mayor election is not an ordinary election. It will change the political course and fate of the country. It will lay the foundation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It will be known as the first election of the BJP versus INDIA. INDIA alliance will register a historic win in the Chandigarh mayor polls. The victory will not be limited to Chandigarh but will spread across the country,” said Raghav Chadha at a press conference at the AAP headquarters in the national capital.
“I believe that the people will help India win the Chandigarh polls. The January 18 clean sweep will be a curtain-raiser for the Lok Sabha polls. It will set the tone for the results of the future INDIA versus BJP battles in future. The election will also establish that when the INDIA alliance fights the election together, its strength gets magnified. People want to get rid of the dictatorial BJP government, and only INDIA alliance will help the people get rid of the dictatorial BJP government,” said Chadha.
There was no immediate response from the BJP to Chadha’s remarks.
In the Chandigarh poll, the AAP has kept the mayor’s seat while the Congress has kept the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts in the alliance.
AAP’s Kuldeep Dhalor will take on the BJP’s Manoj Sonkar for the Chandigarh mayor’s post. The Congress and AAP have got 20 votes combined together against the BJP’s 15 votes in the 35-member MC House, along with ex-officio member MP Kirron Kher’s vote.
The two parties, who have held multiple rounds of seat-sharing discussions, are yet to finalise their seats for the Lok Sabha polls. The AAP has sought Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Haryana, Goa, and Gujarat, and the two parties have so far not revealed whether the discussions also included seat-sharing in Punjab, where the AAP is the ruling party and the Congress is the main opposition party.
“INDIA alliance parties and leaders have left their ambitions and personal differences and decided to come together in the interest of the country. In which states the seats will be shared and in which states seats will not be shared will be announced after the seat-sharing talks are over. Non-stop regular commentary on seat sharing is not possible, but as soon as an important decision is taken we will share,” said Chadha.
On the seat-sharing talks, Chadha said: “The meeting was very significant, and strengthened our collective resolve to save India and to ensure the departure of incompetent, corrupt and dictatorial regime led by the BJP.”
