Arvind Kejriwal has been targeting the Congress with trenchant comments. (File)
Highlights
- Arvind Kejriwal asked Rahul Gandhi to consider alliance in Haryana
- Hinted that he was willing to let go any bitterness
- AAP and Congress were unable to form alliance in Delhi despite talks
Their alliance in Delhi was a non-starter but Arvind Kejriwal has now urged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to consider a tie-up in neighbouring Haryana for the April-May national election.
"Rahul Gandhi should think about an alliance in Haryana," said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, making it clear to reporters that he was willing to file away their recent bitterness under bygones.
"People of the country want to defeat the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo. If in Haryana, JJP (Jannayak Janata Party), AAP and Congress fight together, then the BJP will lose in all 10 seats," said Arvind Kejriwal.
The national election will be held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 across the country and the results will be declared on May 23. Voting for the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana will be held on May 12.
The AAP and Congress failed to forge an alliance despite discussions after being nudged by leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar.
On Monday, Rahul Gandhi sought to end speculation by declaring that there would be no alliance and that his party would contest all seven seats of Delhi.
A comment by Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit last week had fueled a buzz that the two parties had not yet called off negotiations. Sheila Dikshit, after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson, said the Congress had "no alliance yet" in Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal has been targeting the Congress with trenchant comments about "helping BJP" ever since their talks crashed.
Mr Kejriwal accuses the Congress of helping the BJP by rejecting an alliance and setting the stage for the division of anti-BJP votes.
The Congress feels any partnership with AAP will be at the cost of its own vote-base. The party's 15-year dream run in Delhi ended when AAP won an impressive number of seats in assembly polls. To keep the BJP out, the two parties formed an alliance but that government ended within 49 days with Arvind Kejriwal's abrupt resignation as chief minister.