In meeting at Kejriwal's residence, AAP discusses LS candidates for Punjab

A meeting of AAP leaders to discuss its Lok Sabha poll candidates for Punjab was held at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here on Saturday.

Apart from party national convener Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, MP Raghav Chadha and other leaders were present at the meeting, party leaders said.

"The leaders discussed candidates from Punjab for the Lok Sabha polls. Various other issues like seat-sharing possibility was also deliberated upon but the discussions remained inconclusive. Further meetings will be held in coming days," said a source.

The AAP and the Congress, both partners of the opposition INDIA bloc, have been holding seat-sharing talks for states, including Delhi and Punjab.

However, sources in both parties have claimed that their state units were not in favour of an alliance between them for the elections.

"A possibility of sharing six seats each in Punjab was being discussed but the Congress has asserted that it should be allowed to contest all the eight seats that it won in 2019 Lok Sabha polls," a source said.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress won eight of the 13 seats in the state while the SAD-BJP combine bagged four seats. The AAP managed to win only one seat.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc parties including Congress and AAP are yet to come up with a seat-sharing formula for the Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May.

The AAP has made it clear to the Congress that it wanted to have an alliance for the polls in five states including Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab, party leaders said earlier.