Gujarat: BJP takes a dig at Congress-AAP alliance, says blind and lame have joined hands

Ahmedabad, Feb 24 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday took a dig at the seat-sharing pact between Congress and AAP for upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat, saying "a blind and a lame" have joined hands ignoring the ground realities.

As per the seat-sharing formula, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will contest from Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seats and the Congress on the rest 24.

AAP and Congress are dreaming of winning elections without seeing the ground reality, said Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil.

Paatil cited the voting percentage of the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections to claim that the alliance appeared far from winning seats in these two LS constituencies.

The BJP whitewashed Congress in the 2019 general elections by winning all 26 constituencies in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

"No alliance can stop the BJP from winning all 26 (Lok Sabha) seats and that too with a margin of over 5 lakh votes. I believe that Congress and AAP are still dreaming and not ready to see the ground reality," Paatil told media persons.

In the 2022 state assembly elections, the BJP retained power with a record mandate of 156 seats. The Congress won only 17 seats and AAP 5, out of 182.

In the Bharuch constituency, the BJP secured 51 per cent of votes, 12 per cent more than the combined vote share of Congress (around 26 per cent) and AAP (13 per cent), Paatil said.

"In the last assembly elections, candidates of AAP lost their deposits in four of the seven segments under the Bharuch constituency. Bhavnagar is also a BJP stronghold which the party has been winning for years," Paatil said.

He said the alliance between Congress and AAP is like "an understanding reached between a blind and a lame person, with the former allowing the latter to sit on his shoulder".

"The lame showed the way to escape the fire and make money by begging together. Later the blind man felt the weight of the lame person sitting on his shoulder was increasing and he felt betrayed.

"A similar situation will be seen in Gujarat where a blind and a lame person have come together to win elections," he said.

Paatil said the AAP's decision to contest only two seats out of 26 is akin to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party accepting defeat even before the elections.

"Even elected Congress representatives see no chance of victory. Such an alliance is not going to yield any result. People here have become aware of their attempts to mislead them on the pretext of false promises," he added.

Chaitar Vasava and Umesh Makwana are AAP's nominees from Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seats, respectively. PTI