New Delhi:
The Congress today said it would not reconsider its support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s government in Delhi, but warned that it could "revisit" its decision if Arvind Kejriwal's party did not make good on its poll promises.
Sources said the Congress will indicate to the AAP that they would like its key promises to be fulfilled on priority, including a 50% cut in electricity bills, 700 litres of free drinking water to every household, and the construction of pucca houses in slums.
The Congress, which was decimated by the year-old AAP in this month's assembly polls, calls these promises "un-implementable", and its support is seen as a strategy to show up Mr Kejriwal's government if it fails to deliver.
Congress sources today said the decision to provide support to AAP was taken at the "highest level" and was backed by every party MLA.
On Tuesday, senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi said a section within the party believed the decision to support Mr Kejriwal's party was not correct. Sources said the divide became sharper after AAP announced that it would pursue cases against outgoing chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who was defeated by Mr Kejriwal.
Congress leaders have said that their support to AAP was never unconditional, a point that, sources said, had been raised by Mr Kejriwal in his letter to Sonia Gandhi seeking clarification on support.
In response to Mr Kejriwal's letter, the Congress said it would provide outside support. The letter was drafted by Sheila Dikshit and Shakeel Ahmed, who is in charge of Delhi.
The AAP won 28 seats in the Delhi election, just a few seats behind the BJP, which emerged the winner with 31 seats but refused to take power as it fell short of a majority. The Congress, which won just eight seats, then offered support to the AAP.