Lok Sabha Elections 2019: No Alliance With AAP, Announces Delhi Congress Chief Sheila Dikshit
The decision was taken at a meeting of all leaders of Congress's Delhi unit on Tuesday.
New Delhi, March 5: Days after the Aam Aadmi Party announced candidates for six out of seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Congress's state unit president Sheila Dikshit said there will be no alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal'led party. The decision was taken at a meeting of all leaders of Congress's Delhi unit on Tuesday. The meeting was called by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
"A unanimous decision has been taken that there will be no alliance in Delhi," Sheila Dikshit told news agency ANI. The AAP announced its candidates for six Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, saying Rahul Gandhi had ruled out any alliance. AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too had earlier said that there was a limit of waiting and persuading (Congress) to agree to the alliance.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, riding on the Modi wave, the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged all the seven seats. Earlier, the AAP had approached the Congress for the alliance with a 5:2 formula in Delhi, which meant five seats for the AAP and two for the Congress. However, the coalition did not succeed as it was rejected by states units of the Congress. Later, the AAP reportedly offered three seats to the Congress, which didn't work as well.
After Dikshit's appointment as Congress president in Delhi, sources claimed that the chances of an alliance with AAP for the general elections had brightened. Dikshit had replaced Ajay Maken, who was opposed to any alliance with the AAP that he bitterly criticised over issues of governance and corruption.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2019 02:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).