Congress rules out alliance with AAP in Delhi; party arrived at 'unanimous decision', says Sheila Dikshit

The Congress will not form an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit told reporters on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_2985190” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit. PTI[/caption] “A unanimous decision has been taken that there will be no alliance in Delhi,” Dikshit said. The announcement by the former Delhi chief minister came following a meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The two-hour meeting with Rahul was attended by the party’s key leaders in the state, including Dikshit and her predecessor Ajay Maken, reported NDTV. AAP was ready to offer two seats to the Congress in Delhi and indicated that it was open for an alliance in Punjab as well, sources told the news channel. The Congress, however, was holding out for three seats. The party had other options in Haryana and Punjab in case the Congress wanted more seats in Delhi. Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had earlier told ANI, “There should be only one candidate against every BJP candidate, votes must not be divided. I am tired of trying to convince Congress to form an alliance. But they refuse to understand. If our alliance with Congress is done, BJP will lose all seven seats in Delhi.”

On 2 March, bringing a virtual end to speculations of an alliance with the Congress, AAP had announced the names of party candidates on six of seven seats in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. On 24 February, Dikshit had widened the divide between the two parties, and accused Arvind Kejriwal of “empty talks” on the issue of full statehood for Delhi in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “Kejriwal is making empty talk about full statehood for Delhi and nothing will come out of his rhetoric. If he was serious about full statehood for Delhi, he should have taken up the issue four years ago. He is raking up the full statehood issue with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” Dikshit had said. With inputs from agencies