Sheila Dikshit took a hard line and rejected an alliance with the AAP
NEW DELHI : DPCC chief and former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit openly took a hard line and rejected an alliance with the AAP. After a meeting attended by senior Delhi Congress leaders at Ms. Dikshit’s residence, it was decided not to tie up with the AAP in the State for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“We held a discussion about the tie-up and most of the leaders were against it. We will convey our decision to the party high command,” Ms. Dikshit said.
On Thursday, Ms Dikshit had conveyed the central leadership’s inclination to partner the AAP to take on the BJP together, ANI said.
After this, a meeting was held with party workers at her residence on Friday. After two hours of deliberation, they turned down the idea of aligning with AAP for general elections,”Top leaders of Congress held discussion over the issue of a tie-up with AAP in Delhi but most of the leaders are not in favour of an alliance with AAP. We will convey our decision to party high command,” she added.
The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could work out an alliance for the seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi as early as next week if the central leadership of the former can “convince” the Delhi unit of the party. If the deal is sealed, each party could contest three seats and support a common candidate for another. Names that are being discussed include BJP rebels Shatrughan Sinha and Yashwant Sinha as the common candidate. Surveys and polls done by both the parties indicate that if the AAP and the Congress contest separately in Delhi, the BJP could sweep the Lok Sabha polls.
But convincing the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) could turn out to be tricky as it rejected such an offer on Friday because of the stiff resistance from the workers. They maintain that the Congress could win the Lok Sabha polls on its own without an alliance.At a public meeting last week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said he was “tired” of trying to persuade the Congress to agree to an alliance with his AAP. A day later, Ms Dikshit retorted, “When did AAP ever come to us? If Arvind wants an alliance, then he should directly speak to me.”
Just weeks before that, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi both attended a meeting of opposition leaders at Maharashtra politician Sharad Pawar’s home in Delhi. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also participated in the discussions, told reporters that AAP and Congress had been urged to consider tying up in Delhi.
Mr Kejriwal’s party was born out of the anti-corruption movement against the Congress over the demand of an anti-corruption body. In 2013, the Congress helped AAP take power in Delhi, but Mr Kejriwal quit after a 49-day stint over the anti-corruption Lokpal bill, adding to the acrimony. Two years later, AAP returned to power with a spectacular mandate and the Congress was wiped out. The Congress, say sources, believes AAP rode to power by eating into its vote-base. (With Agency Inputs ).
