Rahul-Kejriwal faceoff over Delhi poll alliance

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 15

In a fresh turn of events around the ever-unfolding saga of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi alliance, chiefs of two outfits Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal today publicly sparred over the jinxed deal for Lok Sabha polls and blamed one another for the delay in reaching an understanding.

In an unusual move, Gandhi took to Twitter to put the onus of failed talks on Kejriwal and said the Congress was still ready for a Delhi-specific pact. Kejriwal hit back, saying the Congress was sabotaging Opposition unity not just in Delhi but also UP and other states and was blaming others for its deeds.

“An alliance between the Congress & AAP in Delhi would mean the rout of the BJP. The Congress is willing to give up 4 Delhi seats to the AAP to ensure this. But, Mr Kejriwal has done yet another U-turn! Our doors are still open, but the clock is running out,” tweeted Gandhi, taunting AAP,  which wanted to ally in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh also.

The comment provoked Kejriwal to ask Gandhi: “Which U-turn? Talks (on Delhi) were still underway.

Your tweet indicates that the alliance, for you, is merely for cosmetic and not genuine ideological purposes. You are indulging in political mudslinging. The country today needs to be saved from Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine but unfortunately you are helping the BJP by dividing anti-BJP votes in UP and other states.”

The Congress two days ago said it was open to allying with AAP in Delhi but AAP had placed “impractical conditions” of similar alliances in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa and that the circumstances in these states were “different from those in Delhi”.

Congress said AAP’s insistence on extending the Delhi pact to other states was “compelling it to field all seven Lok Sabha candidates in Delhi”.

“Congress and AAP alliance is ideal only in Delhi,” Congress’ Delhi incharge PC Chacko said, citing the 2017 Delhi municipal election result data as the basis for the party’s agreement to part with four Lok Sabha seats for AAP in Delhi.

AAP, on the other hand, feels a Delhi-specific alliance is unfair as the Congress neither has any MP nor MLA in Delhi and wants three parliament seats, but does not want to part even with one seat in Punjab, where AAP has four MPs.

The saffron ranks, meanwhile, are in no hurry to announce their Delhi LS poll candidates. Currently BJP holds all seven Delhi seats in the Lok Sabha.