Congress gets more time to decide if it still wants to go it alone
Atul Mathur, Alok KN Mishra | TNN | Updated: Mar 11, 2019, 07:30 IST
Picture used for representational purpose onlyNEW DELHI: The long run-up to polling in the capital has given Congress enough time to reconsider its decision to fight it out on its own.
Sources in Congress as well as the Aam Aadmi Party confirmed that leaders of the two parties were still involved in discussion over an alliance. Even though Congress president Rahul Gandhi told reporters last week that the Delhi unit was not interested in having a truck with AAP, the meeting between UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on Saturday gave fresh fodder to rumour mills that a tie-up could yet happen.
“It’s not over till it is over,” a senior party leader said. “The final decision on the issue has to be taken by the Congress working committee and if it decides that the grand alliance will work in Delhi too and the party will share seats with AAP, the state unit cannot say no. In fact, some of those who spoke against the alliance at the meeting with Rahul Gandhi last week have also started to see its benefits and conveyed the same to the party leadership.”
The election process in Delhi will start only from April 16. While Congress was looking to finalise the list of its candidates this week considering that voting in Delhi might have taken place in the first phase, the long run-up has given it more time to thrash out the issue. Though the party has shortlisted candidates and formed a panel of 3-4 probables for each seat, sources confirmed that the list was not going to be finalised any time soon.
AAP, on the other hand, is also hopeful of a poll pact with Congress. “It is up to Congress to decide whether it wants to defeat BJP or make it win the elections. It is certain that Congress alone cannot defeat BJP,” AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said.
He, however, was quick to add that AAP was prepared to contest on all seven seats and win. AAP has already announced candidates on six of the seven seats and all the candidates were already in campaign mode for more than five months now.
Addressing a public meeting in northeast Delhi’s Mustafabad on Saturday, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said Congress was going to lose deposits on all seats if it fought the upcoming Lok Sabha polls alone. Kejriwal urged the people to make sure that the votes didn’t get split in the polls and asked them to vote for AAP.
Sources in Congress as well as the Aam Aadmi Party confirmed that leaders of the two parties were still involved in discussion over an alliance. Even though Congress president Rahul Gandhi told reporters last week that the Delhi unit was not interested in having a truck with AAP, the meeting between UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on Saturday gave fresh fodder to rumour mills that a tie-up could yet happen.
“It’s not over till it is over,” a senior party leader said. “The final decision on the issue has to be taken by the Congress working committee and if it decides that the grand alliance will work in Delhi too and the party will share seats with AAP, the state unit cannot say no. In fact, some of those who spoke against the alliance at the meeting with Rahul Gandhi last week have also started to see its benefits and conveyed the same to the party leadership.”
The election process in Delhi will start only from April 16. While Congress was looking to finalise the list of its candidates this week considering that voting in Delhi might have taken place in the first phase, the long run-up has given it more time to thrash out the issue. Though the party has shortlisted candidates and formed a panel of 3-4 probables for each seat, sources confirmed that the list was not going to be finalised any time soon.
AAP, on the other hand, is also hopeful of a poll pact with Congress. “It is up to Congress to decide whether it wants to defeat BJP or make it win the elections. It is certain that Congress alone cannot defeat BJP,” AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said.
He, however, was quick to add that AAP was prepared to contest on all seven seats and win. AAP has already announced candidates on six of the seven seats and all the candidates were already in campaign mode for more than five months now.
Addressing a public meeting in northeast Delhi’s Mustafabad on Saturday, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said Congress was going to lose deposits on all seats if it fought the upcoming Lok Sabha polls alone. Kejriwal urged the people to make sure that the votes didn’t get split in the polls and asked them to vote for AAP.
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