Sweta Dutta | Posted by Dev Goswami
New Delhi, October 24, 2017 | UPDATED 05:52 IST
With the announcement of the first list of 11 AAP candidates in Gujarat, Congress is yet again convinced of a 'design' by the party.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken (right) has accused AAP leadership of helping BJP in electoral battles.AAP's entry into the poll fray in Gujarat has widened the chasm between them and Congress that has been suspicious of a 'pattern' in AAP's political battles.
Even as highly placed sources told Mail Today that AAP has tried to make friendly overtures in the past few months in Gujarat, the Congress leadership failed to trust the party owing to its previous moves.
With the announcement of the first list of 11 AAP candidates in Gujarat, Congress is yet again convinced of a 'design' by the party. Of the 11 seats, nine have sitting BJP MLAs and the remaining two have Congress MLAs.
"Nobody in the AAP has approached me and I have not heard of any talks with them in Gujarat. The AAP instead has been working to help the BJP. That is how they have worked in every poll so far. They have strategically contested only in states with incumbent BJP governments, taking away the anti-incumbency votes that would have otherwise gone to Congress.
"It will not be accurate to say they are eating into our voteshare but into the votes that BJP would have lost due to anti-incumbency," Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken told Mail Today.
"How is it that AAP did not contest in UP or Uttarakhand and not even in Haryana? These states are closer to Delhi, where they already have a government. Even now Himachal Pradesh is geographically closer to Delhi than Gujarat and they should have contested in that state too. But they chose to contest only in Gujarat and there too on all the 11 seats where they have announced their candidates, the BJP stands to benefit from it? How else can this be read?" Maken alleged.
"In Goa the difference in vote share between Congress and BJP was around 4 per cent and though AAP did not win any seat, it took away 6 per cent of the votes. They deliberately announced a Christian chief ministerial candidate knowing well that Christians in the state are traditionally Congress voters. It directly benefitted the BJP."
AAP spokespersons and leaders could not be reached for a comment.
However cabinet minister and Gujarat state in-charge Gopal Rai had previously clarified during the announcement of the first list of candidates on Saturday that the party's main aim was to give a "direct fight to the ruling party (BJP)."