Tazeem Haider | India Tomorrow
New Delhi, March 6— “Aam Aadmi Party should make an alliance with Congress as it will be beneficial for common man”, said 62-year-old Ramchandra Yadav. According to Kale, a vendor, “the incident happened in Pulwama will help BJP if Aam Aadmi Party and Congress do not come together.”
Like Yadav and Kale, several common people and voters of Delhi told India Tomorrow that they want an alliance between the two parties if they want to defeat BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
When asked if AAP and Congress should forge an alliance, most of the interviewers responded positively and warned: “otherwise BJP would sweep Delhi in the upcoming parliamentary elections as it did in 2014.”
An Engineering student Muneeb said: “Because BJP is trying to take political dividend of the Pulwama attack, hence it becomes necessary for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress to forge an alliance. AAP is doing a very good job in Delhi”.
There are 7 Parliamentary seats in Delhi, namely Chandni Chowk, North-East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North-West Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi. In the Lok Sabha elections 2014, division of non-BJP votes between AAP and Congress had ensured a clean sweep for BJP and it won all the seven seats.
For Chandni Chowk seat, Journalist turned politician Ashutosh was candidate from AAP, while Kapil Sibal from Congress. The seat was won by Dr. Harsh Vardhan of BJP. On North-East Delhi seat, Anand Kumar from AAP and Jai Prakash Agarwal of Congress were defeated by Manoj Tiwari of BJP. East Delhi seat was won by Mahesh Giri of BJP defeating Rajmohan Gandhi of AAP and Sandeep Dixit of Congress. Meenakshi Lekhi became MP for BJP from New Delhi seat, while Aashish Khetan from AAP and Ajay Makan from Congress were among the contestants. Udit Raj took the North-West Delhi seat for BJP defeating Rakhi Birla from AAP and Krishna Tirath from Congress. Pravesh Verma won as BJP candidate from West Delhi and Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi became MP on BJP ticket.
According to Research Scholar Mohammad Ziya-ul-Bashar, “after the Pulwama attack, the condition of the country is very critical. In Delhi, if the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress do not make an alliance, then BJP will take the political benefit. Hence, it is necessary for Aam Aadmi Party and Congress to make alliance.”
For quite some time, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor president Arvind Kejriwal was showing interest in an alliance with Congress for the upcoming Parliamentary elections. But, newly-elected President of Delhi Pradesh Congress and former Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit rejected any possibility of alliance with AAP. Still, there are speculations in media over the possibility of an alliance between the two parties.
A fruit-seller Mohammad Iqbal said: “I want the alliance of Aam Aadmi Party and Congress”.
However, there are people who think that AAP has done very good work for Delhi and it should contest on its own and should not make an alliance with Congress. According to them, making an alliance with Congress would not be beneficial for AAP.
“Aam Aadmi Party and Congress should not make an alliance. If the Aam Aadmi Party will make an alliance with Congress then it will not get the benefit of work it has done. AAP is doing a very good job in Delhi,” says a young voter Sonu.
