Allying with Congress would have been like giving “three seats to the BJP”: Kejriwal

New Delhi, May 11: Almost two weeks after it became clear that all seven seats of Delhi would witness a three-way contest, Arvind Kejriwal said that it is good that the alliance between his party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Congress did not materialise.

AAP was keen for an alliance with the Congress in Delhi, but then the grand old party did not give a positive response, the Keriwal led party decided to fight Lok Sabha elections on all the seven seats of the national capital on its own.

Kejriwal, in an interview with the Hindustan Times, said that with the Congress not standing a chance of winning a single seat in the Capital, an alliance would have been like giving "three seats to the BJP."

"It would have amounted to having an alliance between the AAP and the BJP rather than the AAP and the Congress. The second option was to contest all seven seats and try to win them all. Now, it looks like the second option is better," the Hindustan Times quoted Kejriwal as saying.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal talked about an alliance, but the talks eventually failed. The Congress has fielded formidable candidates in the national capital, including former CM Sheila Dikshit, Ajay Maken, Mahabal Mishra and JP Aggarwal.

AAP, too, has fielded popular faces such as Raghav Chadha, Atishi, credited with 'transforming' government schools in the capital under the AAP government, and Dilip Pandey.

Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party had proposed an alliance in the national capital in 5:2 formula with five seats for the Kejriwal-led party and two for Congress. The reportedly wanted 4:3 seat sharing in Delhi. The AAP did not agree to this.

"The Congress doesn't have a single seat in Delhi, but they are demanding three seats from us," AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said.