Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his Aam Aadmi Party is preparing to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone as the Congress has ruled out an alliance with it, NDTV reported. In an interview with the news channel, Kejriwal said all doors are closed to the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief defended his lobbying for an alliance with the Congress. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah have destroyed the economy, caused an environment of hate and weakened the country’s unity in a way Pakistan could not in 70 years,” Kejriwal claimed. “To stop them, we will do anything. We do not have any love for the Congress.”
The chief minister accused the Congress of weakening the Opposition by contesting the election alone in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. “They [Congress] have refused to go for a gathbandhan [alliance],” he told the news channel on Monday. “It appears they are firm.”
He made the statement days after he claimed to be “tired of trying to convince the Congress” for an alliance in the national Capital for the Lok Sabha elections. On February 21, however, Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit said the Aam Aadmi Party had never approached her party for an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to be held this summer.
The development follows a seemingly united front presented by several Opposition parties held in Delhi on February 13, following which Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said Opposition parties would have a pre-poll alliance.
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