Cong jibe after sealing seat deal with AAP: Is BJP being held hostage by allies?

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Buoyed by sealing seat-sharing deals with the AAP and the Samajwadi Party, the Congress on Saturday took a swipe at the BJP, which is yet to announce such an arrangement with its allies, asking whether the ruling party has been held "hostage" by the parties it sought to "gobble up".

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said that in the last week, the INDIA bloc has sealed important seat-sharing deals in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh.

"In the coming few days, all our other discussions will also reach a positive conclusion," he said in a post on X.

In the same post, Venugopal said, "Meanwhile, what is happening in the NDA? Are all the ill-conceived, corrupt and opportunistic M&A deals giving BJP sleepless nights? Why no seat-sharing yet in Bihar? What about Maharashtra, where they have taken a sledgehammer on democracy?" "Is the party which claims to win 400+ seats being held hostage by those parties it wanted to gobble up?" he posed.

The Congress has announced seat-sharing pacts with Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and with AAP in Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. It is also in the process of finalising its seat-sharing in Bihar and Maharashtra soon.

The AAP will contest four Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and the Congress three, the constituents of the INDIA bloc said on Saturday as they announced their seat-sharing arrangements for the national capital, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana. The two parties also said that they have mutually decided to fight the Lok Sabha polls on their own in Punjab.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress have also announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with Uttar Padesh's main opposition party leaving 17 out of the 80 seats in the state for its ally. PTI