Punjab Congress leaders' meeting with party high command in Delhi today

Punjab Congress leaders Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), Amrinder Singh Raja Warring are holding a meeting with party high comnmand leaders including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to discuss the possibility of alliance with the ruling AAP in Punjab in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Chandigarh: Amid speculations of a possible Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) coalition in Punjab in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Congress unit of Punjab on Thursday visited national capital Delhi to hold meeting with the party high command to chalk out a strategy in this regard, sources said. It is learnt that the Congress high command leaders will hold a meeting with the Punjab Congress leaders including Partap Singh Bajwa and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), Amrinder Singh Raja Warring to discuss threadbare the possibility of alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and party’s general secretary, organisation, KC Venugopal are scheduled to attend the meeting. Significantly, the AAP is also party of the Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a united front of the opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections.

There are reports that the INDIA opposition bloc might field common candidates on majority of the Lok Sabha seats against the BJP. However, in Punjab, the state Congress is believed to be averse to such a coalition with the ruling AAP putting the grand old party in a spot of bother. In today's meeting, the Congress top brass is expected to take a decision whether the party will enter the fray by sharing the seats in an alliance with the AAP or it will field its candidates in all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.

Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has been throwing the ball in the court of the high command with regard to the alliance. Many senior Congress leaders have been categorically opposing an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. But senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has a different opinion and is in favor of an alliance with the AAP in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.