Congress leader Alka Lamba on Wednesday said that the party would prepare to contest all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. The remark has not gone down well with leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). An AAP leader said there was no use in attending meetings of the Opposition bloc INDIA since the Congress has decided not to form an alliance with them.

With an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress leaders from Delhi held a meeting with the party's top leadership on Wednesday to review its Delhi unit's poll preparedness.

After the meeting, Congress leader Alka Lamba said, "In the three-hour-long meeting, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge ji, KC Venugopal and Deepak Babaria ji were present. We have been asked to prepare for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It has been decided that we will prepare to contest all seven seats. Seven months are left and all the party workers have been asked to prepare for all seven seats."

The Aam Aadmi Party reacted sharply to her remarks.

AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar said, "If Congress has already decided not to form an alliance with us, then it is of no use for us to attend the next 'INDIA' alliance meeting. Our top leadership will decide whether or not we'll attend the next meeting."

Meanwhile, AAP Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj also spoke about the Congress's decision that it was likely to go solo in Delhi in the 2024 polls.

Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "...Our central leadership will decide this...Our political affairs committee and INDIA parties will sit together and discuss this (poll alliance)."

Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are part of an alliance of 26 opposition parties, INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). The Opposition alliance was formed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The Congress and the AAP had previously been at loggerheads over the Centre's ordinance on Delhi services. Prior to the bill being tabled in Parliament, Arvind Kejriwal had sought the support of non-BJP parties in defeating the bill in Rajya Sabha. The Congress had refrained from making its stand clear for days, leading to Arvind Kejriwal's party threatening to boycott the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru.

Just before the Bengaluru meeting of the opposition parties, the Congress had finally announced its decision to support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its fight against the ordinance brought by the Centre on the control of services.

(With inputs from agencies)