Delhi: No Congress-AAP tie up, confirms Sheila Dikshit, Kejriwal fumes
What's the story
Putting all speculations to rest, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday said Congress will not be forging an alliance with AAP in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Delhi Congress chief said the decision was taken unanimously at the meeting called by party president Rahul Gandhi. Rattled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed BJP and Congress have stitched an alliance.
Meeting
Congress leaders dismissed idea of settling for fewer seats
Reportedly, Congress leaders didn't endorse the idea of joining hands with AAP, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. One Congress leader reportedly said, "We are a national party capable of winning the election in Delhi all by ourselves. Why should we fight only on one or two seats?" Earlier, an AAP leader claimed Congress was making "serious efforts" to reopen alliance talks.
Alliance
Kejriwal was keen on joining hands with Congress
The recent turn of events confirmed AAP was more willing to tie up with the grand old party. On more than one occasion, Kejriwal said the alliance was absolutely necessary to ensure BJP's loss. A frustrated Kejriwal even said at a public address that he didn't know what was going on in Congress' minds and alleged the party of dividing votes.
Speculations
Here's what rumors said about AAP-Congress alliance
Kejriwal's words stung Dikshit who rebuffed him by saying he doesn't know what he is talking about. However, after the Pulwama attack and IAF strikes across the border, both parties allegedly went back on the drawing board. Media reports claimed out of seven Lok Sabha seats, AAP and Congress were to take three seats each. They planned to field a joint candidate in the seventh seat.
Quote
Dikshit says alliance will AAP isn't possible
"It is final that there will be no alliance with AAP. Mr. Gandhi has accepted the decision. The Congress will go it alone in all seven seats in Delhi and win," Dikshit told NDTV after the meeting.
Twitter Post
Kejriwal frustrated after Congress put full stop on alliance talks
At a time when the whole country wants to defeat Modi- Shah duo, Cong is helping BJP by splitting anti-BJP vote. Rumours r that Cong has some secret understanding wid BJP. Delhi is ready to fight against Cong-BJP alliance. People will defeat this unholy alliance. https://t.co/JUsYMjxCxy
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 5, 2019
Looking back
BJP won Delhi in 2014. Will it repeat history?
In the 2014 parliamentary elections, BJP swept the national capital by winning all seven seats. But in the assembly elections which followed, AAP trumped both the national parties. Under Kejriwal's leadership, AAP won 67 out of 70 Lok Sabha seats. Notably, before he sat on CM's chair, Kejriwal was a staunch critic of Dikshit's policies and even threatened to implicate her.