In another blow to the opposition INDIA bloc, the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday ruled out an alliance with the Congress in Punjab for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The AAP’s decision comes just hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a similar stand and said her Trinamool Congress would go solo in the state.
"The Aam Aadmi Party has shortlisted 40 candidates for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. We are getting a survey done before finalising candidates," Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said.
Mann’s remarks come at a time when both AAP and Congress are locked in talks over seat sharing in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Gujarat for the general elections.
Both the parties, however, have entered into an alliance for the Chandigarh mayoral poll.
Mann said he has said many times that "Punjab will become a hero in the country and the AAP will win 13-0 in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls".
"There are three to four probable candidates per Lok Sabha constituency. Surveys will be conducted and we have kept winnabilty as the criterion (for fielding a candidate)," he said
The AAP and the Trinamool Congress are part of the 28-party INDIA bloc along with the Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front.
