AAP-Congress alliance would have restricted BJP, says Shiv Sena (UBT); Cong says Kejriwal wasn’t ready to join hands

Raut said it was sad that both the parties could not form an alliance in the Delhi election as well in other elections like in Haryana and Gujarat. ”In Delhi elections, it is clear that the combined vote share of AAP and Congress was more than that of BJP. While the BJP’s vote share was 45.76 per cent, the AAP vote share was 43.55 per cent. And the Congress vote share was 6.36 per cent. The figures tell their own story. If both AAP and Congress had put up a united front rather than each other indulging in pointing accusing fingers at each other, their scenario would have been completely different,” he said.

Raut said in future elections, the INDIA bloc should come together and fight the assembly elections. “We are hopeful that AAP and Congress will learn lessons from the defeat in assembly elections and will decide to fight the elections unitedly. We should not be just fighting the elections together but we should be seen together and united by the voters. This will send out a strong signal among the voters. Let us hope Congress and AAP will sink their differences in the future,” he said.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “The Congress was ready to form the alliance. However, the AAP was not interested in joining hands. It seems AAP wanted to show that it can win elections on its own. It has clearly faltered. Had it formed the alliance with us, the situation would certainly have been different.”

Londhe said in the past assembly elections as well, the Congress was keen to form an alliance with AAP but it was not ready to do so. “The Congress should not be blamed for the Delhi fiasco. The AAP is solely responsible,” he said.

Londhe said for Haryana elections, Congress leaders had held discussions with AAP leaders. “Initially, they seem to be ready but when Arvind Kejriwal was released from jail, they decided to contest all seats in Haryana where there was a difference of only 0.4 per cent in the vote share of the Congress and BJP,” he said, indirectly blaming the AAP for the party’s defeat.

Londhe said the Congress fought hard in Delhi elections but could not succeed. ”We fought the election to the last… Somehow we could not convince the people of Delhi… It was seen during the elections that people still remembered the Sheila Dixit-government which gave good governance. However, a perception was created that the fight was between AAP and the BJP, which cost the Congress dearly.”

For the third consecutive time, the Congress secured zero seats in Delhi assembly elections. The BJP outplayed AAP by winning 48 seats. The AAP which ruled Delhi for a decade had to remain content with 22 seats.

A senior Congress leader said, “I think both Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi are not ready to give up on their ego. They should become a little lighter. They seem to have strong grouses against each other. They don’t understand who their common enemy is. Kejriwal and his colleagues were sent to jail by the Modi government. Rahul Gandhi and his family have for the first time faced court cases by the Modi Government. So who is their common enemy? Both of them are refusing to understand this and because of their ego hassles, their governments are crumbling.”

A senior Shiv Sena leader said, “Both the leaders are strong but stubborn and refuse to make adjustments. They want to outdo each other even if it means helping the BJP. We do not understand what kind of politics they are playing. If this is the attitude of these leaders, the INDIA bloc will never succeed and will always have to play second fiddle to BJP in all the states.”

Pune AAP spokesperson Mukund Kirdat said, “It now seems like had there been an alliance between AAP and Congress, the BJP would not have succeeded. I think at least there are 14-15 seats where the votes gained by Congress candidates have led to the defeat of AAP candidates.”

Chetan Bendre, another AAP leader said, “I was in Delhi during the elections. In Arvind Kejriwal’s seats, atleast 40,000 names of voters were deleted… This was an example of how the BJP went all-out to win the election… It manipulated the election, it used the election machinery and the police force to its advantage. It was by far the most unfair election.”

Meanwhile, activist Anna Hazare said the people of Delhi taught Arvind Kejriwal a lesson for his government’s wrong policies. “The Kejriwal government has been defeated because of its liquor policy and its focus on money. Arvind Kejriwal failed to understand that his duty was to serve the people selflessly,” he said.

“Liquor policy dented AAP’s image. Money remained the focus which tarnished the party’s image. Arvind Kejriwal walked on the wrong path. He forgot he should be serving the people selflessly. He only spoke about clean character but implemented a liquor policy which people did not like.”