New Delhi:
Congress leader Ajay Maken on Saturday said his party should not have an alliance with the AAP in Delhi, but left the option open saying this is his personal view.
Asked whether the Congress will extend support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, if necessary, after the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, Mr Maken said: “It is my personal view that there should be no alliance with AAP. ” “I am also of the opinion that there should not have been any support (from the Congress) for the AAP in 2013 and also no alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But this is my personal opinion,” the treasurer of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). said without saying anything else.
Speaking at the first press conference at the new Congress headquarters on Kotla Road, Mr Maken said he stood by his earlier comment that Mr Kejriwal is “anti-national” and that the AAP's strengthening in the capital would be the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) will only help.
Asked about his “anti-national” comment against Mr Kejriwal, Mr Maken said: “I have expressed my personal opinion and I still stand by it.” He said the people of Delhi have suffered due to Congress's support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013 and joining the Kejriwal-led party in 2024.
“When the people of Delhi suffered, the BJP benefited. But this is my personal opinion,” Maken said.
On whether the Congress would still stand with the AAP, he said, “I feel Kejriwal gaining prominence in Delhi is helping the BJP. To fight the BJP, it is important to have a strong Congress at the national level to have.” Mr Maken said if a national party like Congress is not strong at the national level, it is difficult to fight against the BJP.
“By weakening the Congress, one cannot fight the BJP,” he said.
Noting that Delhi is not an insignificant state politically, Mr Maken said it is known that whichever party wins the Lok Sabha seats in the capital will form its government at the Centre.
“The AAP has failed to fight the BJP in Delhi,” he claimed.
Mr. Maken said in both Haryana and Delhi that the Congress wanted an alliance with the AAP, but soon after his release from jail, Mr. Kejriwal himself announced that his party would contest all ninety seats in the Assembly in Haryana, while 'we were in a situation'. advanced stage of discussion about an alliance”.
“As far as Delhi is concerned, Mr. Kejriwal himself announced soon after the Lok Sabha elections that they will fight the Delhi elections on their own,” he added.
Mr Maken said when the Congress had its government in Delhi, led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, it won all seven Lok Sabha seats in the capital and stopped the BJP here. “By stopping them in Delhi, we have stopped them from taking power at the Center as whoever wins the Lok Sabha seats in Delhi will form the government at the national level,” he noted.
“But since the AAP came to power in Delhi, the opposite is happening and the BJP has formed the government at the Center as it has won all seven Lok Sabha seats. Then who is in the BJP?” asked the Congress leader.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)