NEW DELHI: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Congress president Rahul Gandhi used the same platform- protest against mass rapes at a government-assisted women shelter in Bihar- at Jantar Mantar here on Saturday, but dodged each other to ensure that they don’t figure in the same photo frame.

While Kejriwal took the stage at around 6 pm, Gandhi came to the venue around 7.15 pm. Leaders of RJD, who organized the protest of opposition parties against NDA, had no illusion that their exhortation for putting up a show of unity will not succeed in bringing the Congress chief and Delhi CM together.

“Rahul Gandhi won’t share the dais with Kejriwal and vice versa in Delhi. He (Gandhi) will come only after Kejriwal addresses the gathering and leaves the venue,” said a RJD source hours in advance.

The pain they took to keep distance from each other was yet another proof that while the imperative of taking on the dominant BJP may impel them to occasionally be on the same platform, Congress and AAP are not ready to bury the hatchet in Delhi: a factor which may see 3-way fight in the capital, featuring them and the saffron party.

While the Delhi CM has shown no appetite for tactical understanding, Delhi unit of Congress seems to be equally averse to the idea of putting up a united front against BJP which swept the 7 seats in the city in 2014.

Despite the efforts of opposition parties to join hands against BJP, Delhi may still witness a three-way battle in the parliamentary elections. Congress appears reluctant to join hands with AAP in the capital in the face of strong opposition from its state unit headed by Ajay Maken.

Top Congress sources said state units are “the starting points for any talk on alliances” and their views could not be ignored.

In case of Delhi, AICC noted that its state unit was bitterly opposed to any truck with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. “We cannot ignore this strong view,” a senior AICC office-bearer said.

Sources said Congress would also not join hands with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana because the state Congress is in direct contest with the local outfit.

The leadership’s position on Delhi comes despite pressure from other opposition leaders, including TMC chief Mamata Banerjee , that Congress should ally with AAP to defeat BJP.

Prior to Saturday, Gandhi and Kejriwal shared the dais twice — first to celebrate the defeat of BJP in Bihar in 2015 and then in Bengaluru at the swearing-n ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy.

However, in the home (Delhi) turf, AAP Congress are still political adversaries and both leaders kept the distance.

