Ahead of third INDIA meeting, AAP, Cong cross swords over Delhi tie-up for LS polls

Delhi Congress leader Alka Lamba, following the meeting which lasted over three hours, said, “We spoke on strengthening the organisation and preparing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the city. There are seven months left and seven seats in the fray; every leader has been asked to start work on these from today itself with whatever responsibility is being assigned.”

Lamba’s statement evoked a sharp reaction from the AAP, with spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar stating, “If the Congress has decided that it will not come together for an alliance with us in Delhi, there is no point in attending the INDIA alliance meeting and wasting time. Our leadership will take a final decision on whether we will attend the next meeting.”

When asked about the development, AAP Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Our central leadership will decide this…Our political affairs committee and INDIA parties will sit together and discuss this.”

AAP sources said senior party leaders will reach out to the Congress to get clarity on its stand regarding a tie-up in the 2024 polls. The third meeting of the INDIA alliance is scheduled at the end of the month.

Congress sources, however, said the only direction from the high command was that the party’s Delhi leadership prepare organisationally in all seven Parliamentary seats in Delhi.

“Our meeting today revolved around the party’s strategy for the 2024 Parliamentary elections, the issues related to it in Delhi and the way forward… Representatives from several sections of society were a part of the meeting and spoke unequivocally that the same Delhi which had prospered under Sheila Dikshit ji has now become directionless,” Deepak Babaria, the AICC in-charge for Delhi and Haryana, said after the meeting.

“Whether it is the BJP government at the Centre or the AAP government in Delhi, whatever their anti-people policies are, the Congress will raise its voice against them…Arvind Kejriwal ji had made many promises before coming to power like generating employment in the capital which he has not been able to accomplish,” Babaria said.

He then took on Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal over issues ranging from the contract system in government departments to the AAP’s expenditure on publicity, the efficiency of Mohalla Clinics, government schools and issues such as traffic jams and Delhi’s environment.

According to Congress sources, Babaria, who was in Gujarat when asked by the party to urgently fly down to the city for the meeting, had, during the meeting, urged the Congress high command to announce its decision regarding the new president of the party’s state unit at the earliest based on feedback from its members in Delhi.

“What a possible alliance with the AAP, if there is one, will look like, is under the ambit of the high command, which will decide the way forward… There was no discussion regarding it today… We only discussed how to possibly give voice to issues being faced by the average citizen of the city,” he said when asked about whether the topic was broached.

Congress sources said Wednesday’s meeting also paved the way for several key appointments in the Delhi unit, which have “been pending for long”, and followed similar meetings which had taken place over the past few days. Kharge termed the meeting a consultation.

Senior party leaders, including Ajay Maken, Haroon Yusuf, Krishna Tirath and Sandeep Dikshit were among those at the meeting in addition to Lamba and others.

“There was a similar meeting on Monday; the views of the state leadership are being recorded before naming the new president of the state unit. The choice for the leader of the state unit is crucial as they will take the party forward, and keep its cadre in check, with regard to the possibility of a seat-sharing agreement with the AAP in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections as well as one during the Delhi Assembly elections a year after that,” a senior Congress leader said.