AAP-LG row: Congress keeps its distance

NEW DELHI: Congress is insistent on keeping a distance from Aam Aadmi Party despite growing pressure to change tack in the wake of rising support for CM Arvind Kejriwal and the perception of the largest opposition party getting isolated in the anti-BJP camp.
A joint backing of four opposition chief ministers for Kejriwal in his fight with the Modi regime contrasted with Congress's continued sniping against the AAP mascot. Many said Congress's cussedness was painting it in a corner in the opposition camp.

However, Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot told TOI, "There is no perception of Congress being isolated. A chief minister is sitting on a dharna and four CMs have come out in support of a colleague, which includes TMC's Mamata Banerjee and CPM's Pinarayi Vijayan. Congress wants to ensure people of Delhi do not suffer. BJP and AAP both should ensure this. It is unfortunate that it has not been done."

What the senior leader appeared to indicate was that TMC and CPM were sworn enemies and their standing together on an issue could not have a bearing on alliance politics.

Indications from the Congress camp were that the party has given deep thought to its policy on AAP and would stick to it.

The issue came up for discussion amid a public spat between the two parties over an alliance for 2019 elections last week.

Congress's political interests in Delhi, where it was decimated by AAP, have been paramount in blocking any review of its stance towards the newbie. Siding with Kejriwal, who felled Congress in the capital by painting its leaders as "corrupt", is seen as suicidal in public perception.

What continue to rankle the Congress are Kejriwal's acerbic attacks on Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders as he tried post-2014 to emerge an alternative to Congress in heartland states.