Congress’ Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken on Saturday ruled out any alliance with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and clarified that no such communication has been initiated by the party leadership, reported The Indian Express.
Maken’s remarks come after AAP appointed Lok Sabha in-charges in five out of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi on Friday. There was speculation that the two seats could have been left for the Congress, reported Hindustan Times.
Maken said the Delhi unit did not approve of the idea. “It was AAP, which created vicious atmosphere against Congress in Delhi that helped Narendra Modi to reach Delhi.” Maken had alleged that since AAP had failed at winning seats outside Delhi, they were keen on an alliance with the Congress in Delhi.
“Kejriwal with team Anna [Hazare] supported by RSS, helped in creating this monster of Modi!”, he tweeted.
AAP leader Dilip Pandey replied to Maken’s tweet, saying that some members of the Congress had got in touch with them for a coalition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. “Some senior Congress leaders are in touch and they want our support in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi (in Lok Sabha elections),” he tweeted. “They are demanding one seat from us in Delhi.”
Talks were on for one seat but AAP had not yet decided whether to support or arrive at a coalition arrangement with Congress, an unidentified AAP leader told Hindustan Times.
Responding to the reports of the Congress-AAP alliance, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Manoj Tiwari said it neither “surprises us nor distracts” the party, reported PTI. “The tweets of leaders of the two parties in this context are a game plan towards creating a political atmosphere for a coalition,” Tiwari said, adding that it will be an “immoral coalition”.
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