Page 15 - 15OCT2018E

COLUMN POLITICS

Will Congress, AAP join

hands for 2019 elections?

NEWS & Amid murmurs of possible alliance between the Congress and AAP
doing the rounds, there are reports that the two parties are discussing
VIEWS seat sharing in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls

BHARAT HITESHI
hen Congress. with Will Rahul swallow pride?
Hiteshi is an support of many The big question is Can Rahul Gandhi
independent journalist- opposition parties, swallow his pride and treat AAP as an Power sharing Speculation is rife that AAP may
turned-author and a protested against equal partner? Is Congress willing to offer Congress a 5:2 ratio for seat sharing
political commentator. petroleum price hike, meltdown with an eye on 2019 general
The views expressed W what surprised eve- elections? It is still not clear whether
are his own ryone was the presence of Rajya Sabha Congress president Rahul Gandhi has the Congress but to form the govern- leaders would be comfortable with play a key role in forging this alliance.
member Sanjay Singh, who is a senior given a green signal to the party to work ment for the first time in Delhi when it such an arrangement if it brightens Many in AAP say that there can be no
leader of Aam Aadmi Party. That was on the alliance with the AAP. could not muster numbers of its own, their chances of victory having a rerun understanding with the Congress till
enough to spur whispers in corridors of Speculation was also rife that the AAP it had to take the outside support of the of the 2014 performance, when AAP Maken remains the Congress party’s
power about a possible tie up between offered the Congress a 5:2 ratio for seat Congress party, which was the prime managed to get four Lok Sabha seats Delhi president. For days together
the Congress and AAP in Delhi, Haryana sharing in Delhi - five seats for the AAP target of his attacks earlier. in Punjab. “Even if Congress spares five there had been rumours that Maken
and Punjab where Aam Aadmi Party has and two for the Congress. However, the To ensure no division of votes, the of the 13 seats for AAP, it will be a good may be asked to quit. There was also
considerable clout. Congress is insisting equal partnership Congress-AAP alliance may be for- deal”, opined a AAP leader from Pun- speculation that Yashwant Sinha, the
Analysts point out that Congress and means at least three out of the seven Lok midable. In Punjab where AAP came jab. For record the Congress-AAP vote estranged BJP leader may be accom-
AAP have kept all options open and an Sabha seats in Delhi. out as the second party after Congress share in Punjab during the Assembly modated by the AAP in Delhi.
alliance can’t be ruled out. Though in Another question is if bitter rivals can in Assembly election, it relegated poll was much more than BJP-SAD Some in the Congress camp also say
Delhi all the seven seats of the Lok Sabha become allies? The speculations about Shiromani Akali Dal to third posi- share. Naturally the AAP-Congress alli- that Maken is hurting the party’s pros-
had gone to the BJP during the 2014 elec- the rumoured alliance got a further tion. Though during election, Captain ance would be unbeatable and it would pects. For instance before the symbolic
tions, the AAP came with a thumping boost after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Amarinder Singh while dismissive of be difficult for the SAD-BJP to wrest fast that was to be led by Rahul Gandhi
majority in State Assembly winning 67 of Kejriwal sometime back praised former AAP, the results show that AAP can’t be Punjab again. in Delhi, a photo of Ajay Maken eating
70 seats. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on taken lightly. chhole bhature at a dhaba had done
Similarly in Punjab, out of 13 Lok Twitter. “People missing an educated PM The regional poll arithmetic would AAP’s dipping fortunes immense harm to the event.
Sabha seats, the AAP had won four seats. like Dr Manmohan Singh,” he tweeted. be in keeping with the national picture, AAP’s fortunes have been dipping
Haryana has 10 Lok Sabha seats and Kejriwal had openly criticised Manmo- where a grand alliance of opposition in Punjab. After winning 20 seats in Sheila back in Delhi
together Punjab, Haryana and Delhi han Singh in the past. parties is taking shape to take on Nar- the last assembly elections, it lost six Congress President Rahul Gandhi
account for 30 Lok Sabha seats. It is a endra Modi-led BJP. elections, including four corporations, has already brought in former chief
considerable number and the Congress Kejriwal tweet In Punjab in particular, the possibil- Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and then minister, Sheila Dikshit back in the
and AAP can’t ignore this. Though Ajay Another tweet by Delhi chief minister ity of AAP entering into an alliance Shahkot assembly by-election. Many in Delhi unit as he feels that she would
Maken, the Delhi unit president of Arvind Kejriwal slamming Prime Minis- with Congress to take on the BJP in the the party see 2019 as the only chance be needed to ensure a Congress win.
Congress, the Punjab Chief Minister Capt ter Narendra Modi for his lack of educa- 2019 Lok Sabha elections may revive of revival in Punjab. Sheila Dikshit is considered best bet of
Though in Delhi Amarinder Singh and Haryana Congress tion and the response it elicited from the former’s poll prospects opine sen- AAP and Congress joining hands Congress in Delhi. All these develop-
all the seven Lok Party are not in favour of an alliance, in Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken also ior party leaders. Speculations about to take on the BJP and Modi in 2019 ments also confirm that there is more
than what meets the eye. It is only
a possible tie up were triggered by a
triggered animated discussions in politi-
may not be surprise news. When BSP
politics nothing can be ruled out.
Sabha seats had Speculation is rife in political circles cal corridors in the capital, the power tweet sometime back by the party’s and SP formed an alliance and shared a matter of days when this alliance
gone to the BJP that Congress wants to stitch a Bihar-like centre of country. It is worth mention- Delhi leader Dalip Pandey, confirm- a stage after the bitterness between between Congress and AAP comes out
ing that Kejriwal had shunned tweeting
ing that many senior Congress leaders
Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan
in the open. So as they say anything
Mayawati and Mulayam, it brought
in 2014, AAP had against the BJP. The party has already against Modi for quite sometime and his were in touch with his party. AAP results and the alliance won even from can happen and in politics, there are
secured 67 of 70 started ‘informal’ talks with AAP. Con- sudden outburst through a tweet indi- leader from Punjab Sukhpal Singh Gorakhpur, the constituency of Chief no permanent friends or foes but only
Khaira had said that he was not against
Minister, Yogi Adityanath which at
permanent interests. Indeed politics
gress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Ajay
cated more than what it seemed.
seats in the State Maken reportedly met AAP representa- shared love hate relationship. AAP’s such an alliance to take on the BJP in sometime seemed an impossible task. makes for strange bedfellows!
The Congress and the AAP had always
Mamata Banerjee’s fondness for
tives sometime back to take forward the
next general election.
Assembly elections idea of an anti-BJP front. tirade of anti-corruption was against Sources in AAP, say that most party Kejriwal is well known and she may LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM
TEHELKA / 15 OCTOBER 2018 14 WWW.TEHELKA.COM TEHELKA / 15 OCTOBER 2018 15 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
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