CONGRESS DECIDES AGAINST AAP TIEUP

NEWDELHI: The Congress decided against forging any understanding with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after an internal survey and consultations at different levels showed that a tie-up could hurt the prospects of the grand old party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the national capital, the party’s Delhi incharge PC Chacko said.

The view was endorsed by Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken, who claimed that the party “does not have confidence” in the AAP given that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal recently stated that he will support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls if the central government grants statehood to Delhi. The decision came in the wake of ‘”feelers” from AAP, a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. He claimed that at a recent chance meeting in Delhi, a senior AAP leader told a top Congress functionary that his party was staunchly antiBJP. The Congress functionary was also told that the AAP leadership has given clear directions to its three Rajya Sabha members to work in close coordination with the Congress and other opposition parties on issues of national importance.

HT has learnt that this meeting happened after the AAP’s protest at the (LG)’s residence, during which there was widespread speculation that the Congress would support the party.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj blamed the Congress for “spreading the rumour” that his party was keen on an alliance.