An alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress can be formed, especially in Punjab, “to achieve the larger political objective” of defeating the BJP-led NDA, former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar has said. Kumar, who resigned from the Congress just days before Punjab went to polls last year, however, also warned that such an alliance is difficult as both parties are competing for the same political space.
His remarks come at a time when AAP’s Gujarat unit has announced that it will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the coastal state under a seat-sharing formula with the Congress — both parties are members of the opposition Bloc INDIA.
Excerpts from an interview:
AAP government has been registering corruption cases against former Congress ministers in Punjab. The Congress is saying their leaders are clean. Will not an alliance between Congress and the AAP give BJP to call it opportunistic?
Most of the alliances are driven by political compulsions. In that sense, it can be said that most political alliances are opportunistic. However, politics is the art of the possible. The first and foremost priority of the parties is to win the maximum number of seats. How will they do it in which state, will depend upon the specific factual situation in each state.
It is true that a Congress-AAP alliance in Punjab will face several roadblocks, primarily because both parties are seeking to capture the same political space. Also, there are certain inherent contradictions because AAP in Punjab has groomed itself at the expense of the Congress. So how this will finally turn out, only time will tell. But I am in agreement with the view that it is a difficult alliance to make.
It is also an ideological dilemma for Congress as its leaders have accused AAP of being the B-team of the BJP and the RSS.
As I said, there are several difficulties and hurdles to cross. Leaders of both the political parties are trained to take a practical view of the situation. If both Congress and AAP leadership feel that they can’t co-exist then obviously there would be no alliance. But, if they feel that in order to achieve a larger political objective, mainly to defeat the BJP-led NDA, this is necessary, then they will find a way to come together. But that is a big if. Please do not forget, the AAP has 92 MLAs in Punjab, does not suffer from a major anti-incumbency, and has national ambitions. It would want maximum number of seats from Punjab. So this alliance poses many difficulty.
Why can’t AAP win more seats by dividing the anti-incumbency votes between Congress, BJP and the SAD.
BJP and SAD (Shiromani Akali Dal) are possibly going to form an alliance. If there is no alliance between the Congress and the AAP, then the SAD-BJP alliance will benefit. There is a logic in not having an alliance between the APP and Congress. There is another logic that if they fight together, they can sweep the election.
Won’t such an alliance be more damaging to Congress in long term than the AAP?
If Congress feels it needs to take the lead to bring together the forces that can defeat the BJP, in that case many sacrifices are expected from the Congress. But it would be unfair for anyone to expect that all the sacrifices should be made by Congress only.
AAP has defeated two Congress governments — in Delhi and in Punjab. Their image would be shattered if they ally with Congress.
In politics what is important is winning. If you win, your image goes up. If you loose, your image goes down. So nobody should be too worried about it.
