Chances of a tie-up with Cong almost over: CM

NEWDELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the Congress had “more or less” ruled out an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.

Kejriwal’s comment came a day after he participated in a meeting with opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi. “They (Congress) have more or less said no to an alliance,” the AAP chief said.

Indicating that AAP was still eager for a tie-up with Congress, Kejriwal said throughout the country, there should be only one candidate against the BJP in every constituency as a third person would eat into anti-bjp votes.

“I believe the country is facing a challenge and (prime minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP president Amit) Shah must be removed. For that, it is very important that only one candidate is put up against the BJP so that the anti-bjp votes are not distributed. All should understand this,” Kejriwal said.

Explaining this in Delhi’s context, he said if two candidates contest against the BJP in the national capital, then only the BJP will benefit from it. “In UP, if a third candidate is fighting, apart from the SP and BSP, it will benefit the BJP. All parties should understand this,” he said.

Adding to the speculation of a possible alliance between the AAP and the Congress is the fact that the ruling party in Delhi has still not officially released the names of candidates for the LS elections. The party had earlier said its candidates would be announced by February first week.

Asked about Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit criticising the AAP government and objecting to an alliance, the chief minister said, “I respect Dikshit a lot. One should not always act to do short-term politics. This is about Delhi and we should rise above such short-term vision.”

Moving forward on a united anti-bjp front for the upcoming parliamentary elections, top opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, had on Wednesday had agreed to work together to prepare a common minimum programme to oust the Modi government and to consider forging a pre-poll alliance.

The meeting, hosted by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar at his residence here, saw Congress chief Gandhi and Kejriwal coming together for the first time. NEWDELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party is willing to tie up with the Congress in Delhi for this year’s parliamentary election and it is now for the latter to decide, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.

“Arvind Kejriwal wants an alliance with the Congress in Delhi,” she told reporters at the Press Club of India, without committing to an alliance between her Trinamool Congress and others, such as the Congress and the CPM, in West Bengal. “Let the Congress decide, but the AAP has agreed is what I heard,” she said.

The Trinamool Congress chief said the opposition parties were in the process of forming a pre-poll alliance so that ‘it can stake claim to form government’

“Congress president Rahul Gandhi is working on a common minimum programme for such an alliance, and once it is complete we will meet to discuss it,” she said. “We are likely to meet again in Delhi on February 26 or 27.”

“It is one versus 100,” she replied on who is going to be the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition parties. “Our aim is to defeat the BJP. We can decide the rest after the election.”