New Delhi: In yet another twist to the blow hot, blow cold relationship between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, the two parties have reportedly reached a consensus on tying up for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Sources in both the parties said the Congress and AAP are likely to join hands in Delhi as well as Haryana, with the grand old party deciding to include the demand for full statehood to Delhi in its manifesto.
The two, however, deferred a decision on Punjab amid reports that chief minister Amarinder Singh was not in favour of an alliance in the state.
Even as the AAP and the Congress continue to outwardly reject any possibility of an alliance in Delhi, both parties are still working on a tie-up behind the scenes, with several opposition leaders playing a key role in bringing the two together.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince the Delhi Congress for an alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
The development comes even as AAP leader Gopal Rai reiterated that the AAP will contest alone, and now it’s too late to join hands. “The manner in which Congress is divided in Delhi, it is harming itself and if we kill time with the Congress, the effort against ‘tanashahi’ will be weakened in Delhi," he said.
The Congress had earlier decided to go alone in Delhi after talks with AAP failed and local leaders favoured that the party contests LS polls alone. The Delhi Congress leaders felt that "saving" the party was crucial in Delhi in view of impending assembly elections in the state slated later.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Delhi Congress, PC Chacko, gad said: "I am in consultation with Congress party leaders in Delhi on the possibilities of forging an alliance with AAP.
"The Congress Working Committee has decided to align with like-minded parties across the country to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. I hope Delhi Congress leaders also go by this sentiment and decide on an alliance with AAP, but a final decision will be taken by the Congress president very soon," Chacko said.
Chacko's views were at variance with Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit, who has made it clear that aligning with AAP will not be in the party's interests keeping in view the assembly election in the national capital slated later.
Kejriwal had also recently said that Rahul Gandhi had conveyed to him that the two parties were not entering into an alliance. Talking to reporters at the airport here, the AAP leader said he had met Gandhi recently and the Congress leader had refused to join hands with the AAP. Asked about Congress' Delhi unit president Sheila Dikshit's remarks that Kejriwal never approached her for an alliance, the chief minister said, "We have met Rahul Gandhi. Dikshit is not that important a leader."
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