Congress to fight solo in Delhi after AAP talks fail

Resmi Sivaram / Agencies

The Congress is going ahead with preparations to contest all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, after dumping the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with which it was blowing hot and cold.

The only party that the Congress could have a beneficial alliance in Delhi was the AAP, headed by Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister, but the alliance has failed to take off.

The Congress blamed the AAP leadership for being unhelpful, while AAP sources said the party is championing local causes which it had been addressing as the party that runs the Delhi government.

The sources are confident that the AAP will snatch victory in all seven seats because it has Delhi’s ears and eyes.

Congress leader PC Chacko insisted that party chief Rahul Gandhi had pushed for the alliance.

“The Congress president had given me assignment clearance to go and discuss with AAP. The political necessity is we should come together and defeat the BJP,” Chacko told the media.

“The leadership of Congress in Delhi had apprehensions. They all were persuaded and we finally discussed with AAP. Sanjay Singh and we had discussions.” Admitting that the Congress and the AAP had been fighting with each other and that there was bitterness between the two parties, Chacko said: “But we both understand that there is a political necessity and we should come together to defeat the BJP in Delhi.” According to sources, the four likely Congress candidates are former Union Minister Kapil Sibal from Chandani Chowk, Ajay Maken from New Delhi, Raj Kumar Chauhan from North West Delhi and Jai Prakash Agarwal from North East Delhi.

The Congress leader said AAP was adamant that along with Delhi, the two parties should also have tie-up in Haryana and Punjab.

“The situation differs from state to state. Delhi is an ideal situation where AAP and Congress can come together. We arrived at a pact also.

AAP wanted to discuss Haryana and others,” Chacko said.

“It is neither practical, nor feasible. Even today, we are ready for an alliance with AAP.” Former Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar had initiated a move to bring the two parties together, in a bid to ensure the BJP’s defeat.

But Congress leaders in Delhi, especially its chief Sheila Dikshit, fiercely resisted it.

Delhi trashed Dikshit, who ran the government for 15 years and ended up muddied by corruption scandals. She still refuses to accept the AAP’s historic win.

Dikshit had warned Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi in a letter that an alliance with AAP would hurt the Congress in the long run.

But the talks failed because the AAP was keen on alliances in Haryana and Punjab be thrown in as part of the alliance deal. Kejriwal said he would not need Congress’s help to win the seven seats in Delhi but a tie-up would help limit the BJP in Haryana and in Punjab.

The AAP on Friday announced that it had sealed a tie-up with JJP or Jannayak Janata Party in Haryana.

Delhi votes for its seven Lok Sabha seats on May 12.

The results will be declared with the rest of the country on May 23.

The Congress on Friday approached the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah for allegedly “dragging” the armed forces in politics repeatedly.

Separately, The Congress on Friday approached the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah for allegedly “dragging” the armed forces in politics repeatedly.

Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Randeep Singh Surjewala also raised the issues of Union minister Smriti Irani submitting “contradictory affidavits” to the Election Commission on her educational qualifications and also about a web series on Modi.

Speaking to the media after meeting the EC, Singhvi said PM, the President of the ruling party and its other leaders are “shamelessly dragging the armed forces for cheap politics.” “Never in the history has this happened,” he said, adding the web series on Modi is also a violation of the Model Code of Conduct as it is biographical in nature and it should be banned immediately.