No tie-up with AAP, Rahul Gandhi says Congress has to win all 7 seats in Delhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s statement that the party will fight all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday scotched any hopes of a tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections as he urged booth level workers to win all seven seats in the capital.

“Congress has to win all the 7 seats in Delhi. The booth level workers have to ensure it,” he said.

The grand old party had drawn a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Delhi with the BJP sweeping all seven seats.

Earlier Monday, AAP leader Gopal Rai said that his party is not in talks with the Congress for an alliance in Delhi and it will contest all seven seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on its own.

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Rai said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting with all state unit chiefs of the party and MLAs to discuss the strategy for the parliamentary polls later in the day.

“The party is not in talks with the Congress for an alliance in Delhi and it will contest all the seats on its own,” the AAP’s Delhi unit convenor said. “Kejriwal would be holding a meeting this evening at his residence to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.”

Talks of an alliance between the Congress and the AAP evaporated last week after Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit announced that the party will not form an alliance with the AAP in the national capital and contest the Lok Sabha polls alone.

Delhi votes on May 12, the sixth phase of the seven-phase general elections.