Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Jun 3: Speculations are rife that AAP and Congress may form a coalition ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, to defeat their common foe the BJP.
While AAP claims to have approached Congress, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken’s tweets prove against the alliance.
The speculation started when AAP appointed five Lok Sabha in-charges, out of the seven parliamentary constituencies of Delhi. As two constituency seats were left vacant, sources said that they are left for the Congress.
However, it is said that Congress party demanded three out of the seven seats, which are - New Delhi for Sharmishtha Mukherjee, Chandni Chowk for Ajay Maken and North West Delhi for Rajkumar Chauhan. However, as AAP was not willing to give up more than two seats to the Congress, the coalition talks could have hit the dead end.
Sources say that the informal talks between the Congress party and the AAP started on May 24, with Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken representing the Congress.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s tweet praising former PM also raised eyebrows. "People missing an educated PM like Dr Manmohan Singh," he tweeted
However Ajay Maken was quick to hit back, “You may now apologise to @KapilSibal, @PawanKhera & @SheilaDikshit or rope in @PChidambaram_IN or praise Dr ManmohanSingh But you are the one-along with team Anna and backed by BJP, had spread lies and canard against the Congress leaders & brought Modi to power. Where is Lokpal?” he tweeted.
Maken also put the speculations of offers to rest with his tweet on June 1, "On 'so called' offer of AAP to Congress for 3 seats, look at my reply to Kejriwal! When the people of Delhi are continuously rejecting Kejriwal Govt, why should we come to their rescue? After all, Kejriwal with team Anna supported by RSS, helped in creating this monster of Modi!”
Replying to Maken’s statement on Twitter, AAP’s spokesperson Dilip Pandey said Congress leaders were in touch with the party for its support in the general elections, 2019.
"Ajay Makenji, some senior Congress leaders are in our touch and they want our support in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi (in Lok Sabha elections). They are demanding one seat from us in Delhi," Pandey said in a tweet in Hindi.
A senior AAP leader confirmed that talks were on for one seat but the party had not yet decided whether to support or arrive at a coalition arrangement with Congress.
From the Congress end, it’s still not clear if President Rahul Gandhi has given a green signal to the party to work on the alliance.
BJP Not Surprised: Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari
“The reports of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party’s coalition neither surprises us nor does it distract us. The tweets of Congress and AAP leaders in this context are a game plan towards creating a political atmosphere for a coalition. It shows that both the parties now realise that the BJP is the first choice of people of Delhi. The Congress and AAP coalition will be an immoral one with a motive to mislead the people of Delhi,” Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari told media.