New Delhi: Clearing the air on future partnership with Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, Congress Delhi chief Ajay Maken on Saturday ruled out any alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. He also said that no such communication from the party leadership has been initiated. Accusing the AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the rise of PM Modi, Maken said, “Modi naam ke rakshas (A monster named Modi) was given birth by Kejriwal.”
BJP’s defeat in Kairana bypolls on Thursday had ignited hopes of a united opposition, however, Maken being involved in an online spat with AAP leader Dilip Pandey underlined the difficulties in stitching such an alliance in the capital. Maken also took a strong jibe against the Delhi CM who on May 31 tweeted saying, “People missing an educated PM like Dr Manmohan Singh.” Also Read: Congress, AAP spar over talks on alliance
The Congress leader replying back to Kejriwal said, “On ‘so called’ offer of AAP to Congress for 3 seats, look at my reply to Kejriwal. When the people of Delhi are continuously rejecting Kejriwal govt, why should we come to their rescue?”
Pandey, on the other hand, said, “Some senior leaders of AAP are in touch with the Congress in Haryana, Delhi and Punjab. They want our support.”
Meanwhile, chief spokesperson of state Congress Sharmistha Mukherjee also hit out at AAP and said the party is facing an existential crisis. Taking to Twitter, she said, “AAP is facing existential crisis. No wonder it’s desperate 4 an alliance with Congress, a party & it’s leaders whom @ArvindKejriwal abused unabashedly. If he has courage & conviction, let him immediately quash rumours & reject these stories as false as @ajaymaken is doing.”
Sharmistha Mukherjee✔@Sharmistha_GK
AAP is facing existential crisis. No wonder it’s desperate 4 an alliance with Congress, a party & it’s leaders whom @ArvindKejriwal abused unabashedly. If he has courage & conviction, let him immediately quash rumours & reject these stories as false as @ajaymaken is doing.
The AAP has been outside the Congress’s efforts to stitch together an alliance of opposition parties is no secret. A senior AAP leader claimed the party is in touch with the Congress on “two or three different levels”. The AAP leader said, “We are yet to find a good candidate for two seats — west Delhi and new Delhi. In New Delhi, anyone who contests with AAP support is likely to win… It is Kejriwal’s seat.”
An AAP leader also sought to suggest that the spat on Twitter was “optics” in the course of seat negotiations.
(With ENS inputs)
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