‘We don’t have a leg to stand on if we want to oppose BJP, if we come together with AAP’: Sandeep Dikshit

Former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who was the then vigilance minister when the FBU came into existence in 2015, is already behind bars in the Delhi excise case. Why have you demanded action against the entire Delhi Cabinet in the FBU matter?

Suppose the Delhi Cabinet decides to raise an army tomorrow – something that it is neither permitted to do by law and which also impacts national security – can it be allowed to do so just on the basis of what the Cabinet decides? They bought and used equipment meant for espionage, also political espionage – which they are prohibited from, legally, as well as by the Constitution – while posing a danger to national security. The other members of the Cabinet did not raise objections, even government officers allowed them to go ahead and use such equipment. This is an anti-national activity, a clear case of sedition. The Chief Minister (Kejriwal) and the entire Cabinet should be behind bars (for FBU).

Will this complaint not impact the possibility of the AAP and Congress forming a joint front against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections?

I can’t answer this question on behalf of the party but, as far as Delhi is concerned, the Congress has a clear and considered policy that that there is no difference between the AAP and BJP. The AAP is no less communal or authoritarian than the BJP – there is no difference between them when it comes to misuse of the media and institutional corruption either. We are clear that any party aligning with the AAP is ideologically aligning with the BJP and most of our people in Delhi believe that any association with AAP will be ideological hara-kiri. Questions of larger political significance regarding coming together with the AAP come later but, at the same time what we are aware of is that we don’t have a leg to stand on in the city if we want to oppose the BJP effectively, if we come together with them (AAP).

But the Congress and AAP have been consistently sharing space on the national stage. So, is this stance limited to Delhi because the AAP built the foundation of its politics by discrediting the 15-year Sheila Dikshit regime?

I am neither actively involved in city nor national politics currently but I will say that personal attacks on individuals do not dictate the larger strategic decisions of a political party. What the party decides to do in terms of a national front is its decision and will become clear in time. But, at the same time, several questions need to be answered before taking a decision on coming together with them. I want to ask Congress leaders who may feel that forming a joint national front with the AAP is an exigent (need): Do we align with AAP’s allegations against Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, Mrs Dikshit and, though he is not a member of the party, (Robert) Vadra? Are we sympathetic to the AAP despite its strategy of attacking the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Mrs. Gandhi, as and when it feels like it and then retreating just as quickly? I want to ask such leaders whether they remember an instance of the AAP apologising for all this even once, apart from being a bunch of liars.

So are you ruling out a joint Congress-AAP front against the BJP’s national electoral advance?

What the party decides to do from a national perspective only time will tell. But irrespective of the Congress’s policy regarding the AAP in Delhi, political parties have, and can, come together for larger causes when left with no alternative. Suppose there is a war – will all political parties in the country not align in the national interest? The BJP, Congress, AAP, the Left, all the regional parties, even the RSS – all of us will form a joint front to tackle the situation. That being said, however, the question that needs to be asked regarding the AAP – by all political parties – is why it is not active in states where the Congress is not active. Before the AAP came to power, and even after, every political leader across political lines was corrupt; all that rhetoric has disappeared now when they are seeking a significant space within the national Opposition.

The AAP has maintained that all the cases against it stem allegedly from a “deliberate witch-hunt” by the BJP-led Centre. Are you in agreement with the AAP on this?

We have for years, since the AAP’s coming to power, hit the streets against the AAP government’s corruption, highlighting it. Our Delhi unit has staged more protests and demonstrations against the AAP government’s scams and illegalities than against issues related to the Centre. For instance, when it comes to the liquor policy scam, we are the original complainants in the case – the Delhi Congress has been consistently seeking action against the AAP government for two years, given the clear corruption in the (liquor) policy but the Lieutenant Governor did not do anything. Everyone knew that illegal cash raised through it was being pumped into Punjab and Gujarat in the run-up to the (Assembly) elections there. Criminal investigation in the excise policy scam is not an example of the BJP being vindictive against the AAP, but of the BJP government at the Centre not acting in time.