Lok Sabha elections 2019: Too late, says Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP as Congress warms up to Delhi alliance

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Updated: Apr 24, 2020 08:39 IST

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party appeared to shut the door on the Congress that had lately been warming up to the idea of an alliance for the Lok Sabha election in Delhi. “There will be no alliance with the Congress in Delhi,” AAP leader Gopal Rai said in the national capital.

The Congress is extremely divided in Delhi over the alliance and has already wasted a lot of time, said Rai, convenor of AAP’s Delhi unit that has prepped to launch the party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha from March 23.

“We kept on pleading (with the Congress)… they acted very arrogantly,” Rai said, underlining that if AAP waited any longer, it would be a huge setback for the anti-BJP campaign.

Delhi votes on May 12.

Also Read | Sharad Pawar steps in to kickstart AAP-Congress talks for Lok Sabha polls

AAP’s sharp statement, which blames the Congress for sitting on the offer to team up, comes hours after Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar’s reached out to Congress boss Rahul Gandhi to arrive at an arrangement with Arvind Kejriwal’s party.

Rahul Gandhi was on board

WATCH: Decision on AAP-Congress alliance in a few days: PC Chacko

The Congress Working Committee, the party’s top policy-making panel, has already supported the idea of going in for alliances with parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. But Gandhi hadn’t pushed the plan hard enough since a section of the Delhi leaders including its party chief Sheila Dikshit had been opposed to the idea.

But there was a growing section within the party that felt the Congress may not be in great shape to take on the BJP on its own.

“As far as I know there are senior leaders in Delhi who think that defeating BJP is party’s immediate responsibility; for it we should form an alliance with AAP, that’s the thinking of the majority of leaders,” PC Chacko, AICC general secretary in-charge of Delhi Congress, had said hours earlier.

Chacko had indicated that Rahul Gandhi would “take a decision in a few days time”.

Rai said AAP couldn’t wait any more.

“If we had continued to wait any further for the Congress, our campaign would have suffered a huge setback,” the Delhi AAP leader said.

Rai said AAP had always wanted to actively participate in the opposition alliance at a national level.

“We had decided in principle to part of the mahagathbandhan at the national level and ally with the Congress in Delhi. But the Congress has kept everyone confused. “This has put a huge dent on the anti-BJP campaign and its attitude looks completely non-serious in the entire battle with the BJP,” he said.