As Congress keeps cards close to chest, AAP waiting to hit joint campaign trail

AAP insiders say the ‘wait-and-watch’ approach by the Congress, and delay in naming candidates, has thrown a spanner in formulating a coordinated campaign to tackle the BJP in the LS election

Delhi votes in the general election on May 25 and the deadline for filing nominations is May 6. Yet, the Congress, which has entered into a seat-sharing deal with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, has not announced candidates for Chandni Chowk, North West and North East — the three Lok Sabha seats which have come into its kitty from the seven parliamentary constituencies in the Capital.

The delay, many in AAP say, has created an “unease” within the party since it has already declared candidates for the four seats – New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and the East Delhi which it is contesting.

AAP insiders say even though the party is patiently waiting for the Congress to announce its nominees, the “wait-and-watch” approach has thrown a spanner of sorts in formulating a coordinated campaign to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won all seven seats in the previous two Lok Sabha elections held in 2014 and 2019.

AAP has fielded Somnath Bharti from New Delhi, Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi, Kuldeep Kumar Monu from East Delhi and Sahi Ram Pehelwan from South Delhi.

The Congress stood united with AAP in the INDIA bloc rally held at Ramlila Maidan last month in a show of solidarity with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as well as former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who were arrested in separate cases by the Enforcement Directorate. Workers from the Delhi units of the Congress and AAP dominated the ground in equal numbers, keeping their differences aside. Reiterating that the two parties have come together to “save democracy” and defeat the “dictatorial” BJP, leaders from both the parties continue to affirm that they have each other’s back.

Rajya Sabha MP and AAP leader Sanjay Singh, in an interview with The Hindu earlier, said that the Congress and AAP partnership will be a success, winning all seven seats in the Capital. “Wherever the Congress is contesting, our workers will campaign for them and, I am sure, they will do the same for us,” he said.

Echoing the sentiments, Delhi Pradesh Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely told The Hindu, “We stand with our allies in all circumstances. Once our candidates are announced, our coordination committee will ensure that our workers and leaders throw their full might to defeat the BJP.”