Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday met the Delhi unit leaders to discuss the possibility of an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. However, a decision could not be taken as the opinion of the Congress State unit was still divided.
Speaking after the meeting, Delhi Congress working president Rajesh Lilothia said they made their stand clear to Mr. Gandhi that they were not in favour of the alliance, but left the final call to him. AICC in-charge of Delhi P.C. Chacko who has been in favour of the alliance put forth the opinions, from within the unit who were in favour of a pact, before Mr. Gandhi so that he could take a call on the alliance at the earliest.
Back-channel talks
The Aam Aadmi Party, who announced all seven candidates for the Lok Sabha seats, said the Congress had taken too long to decide and it was now too late. However, back-channel talks have been continuing with sources saying that NCP chief Sharad Pawar was trying to forge an alliance in Delhi but with the Delhi Congress divided, all eyes are on Mr. Gandhi’s decision.
Cycle yatra
Meanwhile, the Delhi Congress announced that they would be conducting a ‘cycle yatra’ from April 1 in the 25 Assembly constituencies falling under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
DPCC president Sheila Dikshit said that the ‘cycle yatra’ will be a perfect launch for the Congress party’s Lok Sabha election campaign as this will enable the Congress workers to interact with the people, and tell them about the programmes, policies and achievements of the Congress government during its 15-year rule in Delhi .
Ms. Dikshit said that the development works carried out by the Congress government during her reign were unprecedented which no other government could claim credit for.
She said these things should be reminded to the people, who now long for the Congress to come back to power, to provide stable and able governance.
The former Chief Minister said that the seven BJP MLAs from Delhi had done nothing for the betterment of Delhi during the past five years.
DPCC working president Devender Yadav said that during the cycle yatra, the Congress workers will expose the failures and non-performances of the Modi government at the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi.
