NEW DELHI: As ambiguity over an alliance between the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) continues, Congress leader PC Chacko, in charge of the party’s Delhi unit, on Friday said that a coalition was the only way to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In an interview to a news website, he said Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit was not the final authority and the Central leadership would take a call on an alliance in two or three days. He further said that the state unit was divided over an electoral pact with Arvind Kejriwal’s party in Delhi.
“There is a difference of opinion in the state unit regarding this. There are six Congress presidents in Delhi, including Sheila Dikshit, and five of them are in favour of an alliance. Similarly, the 14 district committees are also all in favour of a pact. We are of the view that Congress alone cannot win in Delhi. The alliance is a policy decided by the working committee,” he said.
Chacko said that the tie-up was a political necessity in Delhi. Dikshit, from the beginning, has been opposing an electoral pact with AAP. However, several state party leaders, including Chacko, are in favour of a tie-up. On Wednesday, the Congress initiated a survey in which the opinion of booth-level workers in Delhi on a possible alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections was sought.
However, Dikshit expressed ignorance about the survey by the party. Apparently not pleased with the development, she said that Chacko should have asked her before seeking the feedback. A senior party leader who is aware of the development said that the results were analysed on Saturday and sent to party chief Rahul Gandhi.