'Wanted To Go With AAP In Delhi, But Arvind Kejriwal...': Congress Leader

Congress leader Ajay Maken said on Saturday that his party should have no alliance with the AAP in Delhi, but left the option open, saying this is his personal view.

Asked whether the Congress will lend support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, if need be, after the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, Mr Maken said, "It is my personal view that there should be no alliance with AAP." "I also feel that there should not have been any support (from the Congress) to the AAP in 2013 and neither any alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But this is my personal view," the All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer said, without speaking any further.

Addressing the first press conference at the new Congress headquarters at Kotla Road, Mr Maken said he stands by his earlier remark that Mr Kejriwal is "anti-national" and the AAP's strengthening in the capital will only help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Asked about his "anti-national" remark against Mr Kejriwal, Mr Maken said, "I had given my personal view and I still stand by it." He said the people of Delhi suffered due to the Congress's support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013 and its alignment with the Kejriwal-led outfit in 2024.

"When the people of Delhi suffered, the BJP benefitted. But this is my personal view," Mr Maken said.

On whether the Congress would still go with the AAP, he said, "I feel that Kejriwal getting prominence in Delhi helps the BJP. To fight the BJP, it is important to have a strong Congress at the national level." Mr Maken said if a national party like the Congress is not strong at the national level, it is difficult to fight against the BJP.

"By weakening the Congress, one cannot fight the BJP," he said.

Noting that Delhi is not an insignificant state politically, Mr Maken said it is known that whichever party wins the Lok Sabha seats in the capital goes on to form its government at the Centre.

"The AAP has failed to fight against the BJP in Delhi," he claimed.

Mr Maken said both in Haryana and Delhi, the Congress wanted to have an alliance with the AAP, but soon after his release from jail, Mr Kejriwal himself announced that his party will contest all 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, whereas "we were in an advanced stage of discussion for an alliance".

"As far as Delhi is concerned, Mr Kejriwal himself announced soon after the Lok Sabha polls that they will fight the Delhi election on their own, he added.

Mr Maken said when the Congress had its government in Delhi, led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, it won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the capital and stopped the BJP here. "By stopping them in Delhi, we stopped them from assuming power at the Centre as whosoever wins Lok Sabha seats in Delhi goes on to form the national-level government," he noted.

"But ever since the AAP has come to power in Delhi, the opposite is happening and the BJP has been forming the government at the Centre as it has won all the seven Lok Sabha seats. Then who is with the BJP?" the Congress leader asked. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)