Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Gujarat unit chief Isudan Gadhvi on Monday courted a controversy by saying that the AAP and the Congress will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat on a seat-sharing formula as both the parties are members of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Reacting to Gadhvi's statement, the Congress said the party will follow the instructions of the central leadership.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, said a possible alliance between the AAP and the Congress would not affect the electoral prospects of the ruling party and termed AAP as the 'B team' of the Congress. Gadhvi said, “Both AAP and Congress are part of the ‘India’ alliance. This electoral alliance will also be implemented in Gujarat. Though the alliance talks are still at a preliminary stage, it is certain that both the AAP and the Congress will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat under a seat-sharing formula.

Speaking to reporters here, Gadhvi said, "If everything goes according to plan, I guarantee that the BJP will not be able to win all the 26 seats in Gujarat this time." He said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has joined the 'India' alliance to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. Gadhvi said, "AAP's Gujarat unit has started researching about the seats on which the party can field candidates."

Reacting to the Gujarat AAP chief's sudden announcement, the Congress said the final decision would be taken by the central leadership. Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi told media persons, 'I have just come to know about his announcement. Seat-sharing agreements with other parties are finalized by the central leadership. It is their prerogative to decide the pre-poll alliance. The state leadership will discuss the issue if taken up by the central leadership. The Gujarat Congress will follow the instructions of our national leaders in this regard.

The BJP has not paid heed to Gadhvi's announcement. He said, 'We have been winning all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat for the last two times. This time our target is to win all the seats with a margin of five lakh votes. The central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not afraid of any such alliance. We are confident of winning the election. Gujarat BJP spokesperson Ritvij Patel said, "With this announcement, it has now come to the fore that AAP is the B team of the Congress."

Significantly, in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, Congress and AAP contested against each other. The Congress has won 17 seats in the 182-member assembly, while the Aam Aadmi Party has managed to win five.