In Delhi, AAP was ready to give two seats to the Congress. (FILE PHOTO)
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal hit out at the Congress as the party took a formal decision today to not ally with his party in Delhi today. The Congress was "helping the BJP", he tweeted minutes after Sheila Dikshit said it was an "unanimous decision" by the state Congress, which has been accepted by party chief Rahul Gandhi.
AAP, which had earlier announced candidates for six of Delhi's seven seats, had indicted it was open for negotiations, sources said. It also had kept options ready for seat sharing, keeping in mind various scenarios. In Delhi, AAP was ready to give two seats to the Congress.
Mr Kejriwal had earlier said the Congress was unwilling to ally with his party in Delhi and he was "fed up" with reaching out to the party.
After the rebuff today, he tweeted:
Soon after, at a press conference, senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said the Congress was "committed to helping the BJP".
"For the Congress, the party is bigger than the nation. As in Punjab, the BJP helped the Congress in defeating the AAP, the Congress is doing the same in Delhi," Mr Rai said.
Mr Gandhi's meeting with the state party chiefs came after a fresh nudge from Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and is part of a larger recalibration of the opposition strategy following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama and the Indian air strikes on the Jaish-e Mohammed terror camp at Pakistan's Balakot.