‘Will fight BJP-Cong pact’: Arvind Kejriwal after Sheila Dikshit’s no to tie-up snub

New Delhi, Mar 05: After Delhi Congress chief Sheil Dikshit announce that the party will not ally with the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the upcoming elections, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the Congress is helping BJP by splitting anti-BJP vote.

"At a time when the whole country wants to defeat Modi- Shah duo, Congress is helping BJP by splitting the anti-BJP vote. Rumours are that Congress has some secret understanding with the BJP. Delhi is ready to fight against Cong-BJP alliance. People will defeat this unholy alliance," he tweeted.

His reaction came hours after Congress's Delhi unit chief Sheila Dikshit said the party will not enter into an alliance with AAP in Delhi. She made the announcement after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi called a meeting of all leaders of the Delhi unit to discuss the possibility of an alliance.

The AAP had forced the Congress to make a decision by announcing candidates for six of the seven seats in Delhi on Saturday, but left the door open for the alliance by hinting that it may withdraw some if Congress extends a hand.

The formula under discussion was to share three seats each out of seven up for grabs in the national capital. For one seat, the two parties were in talks to field a joint candidate. Names of former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha were being discussed.

The AAP had been sending feelers to the Congress leadership for a pre-poll tie-up for quite a while, but was rebuffed. Delhi chief minister Kejriwal had in a recent public meeting said that he was "tired" of convincing the Congress for an alliance in the Lok Sabha elections to defeat the BJP, but it was not understanding the issue.

"We are tired of convincing the Congress to form an alliance, but they do not understand. If there is an alliance, the BJP will lose all the seven Lok Sabha seats it currently has in Delhi," Kejriwal said at a recent rally. "I don't know what they have in their minds," he further said.

The efforts to bring the AAP and the Congress together were emphasised upon by other opposition parties as well. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandra Babu Naidu had spoken to the Congress on the issue.

The talks between the two parties were being seen as an attempt to enhance the index of opposition unity to squeeze the BJP in states where the ruling party drew maximum numbers in the last elections. BJP won all seven seats in Delhi in 2014.