2019 Elections: Are Congress’ Ally Troubles an Advantage for BJP?
Compared to the BJP, the Congress hasn’t had much luck yet in forming alliances with smaller parties ahead of polls.
The Congress has ruled out the chance of an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi today ahead of the Lok sabha elections. A furious Arvind Kejriwal who leads the AAP and is the chief minister of Delhi has in turn accused the Congress of a secret understanding with the BJP.
The Congress’ ally troubles are not just restricted to Delhi. In West Bengal, no alliance materialised either with the Left or with the TMC. The alliance with the NCP in Maharashtra is still in the pipeline. The only confirmed alliance for them is from the state of Tamil Nadu
The BJP, meanwhile, amid ongoing tensions with Pakistan managed to find the time to stitch up alliances in Tamil Nadu and get their old partners Shiv Sena and Akali Dal on board and has a clear formula with the JD(S) in Bihar as well.
So why is the Congress shying away from alliances?
The DMK led by MK Stalin firmed up an alliance with the Congress last month.
DMK President MK Stalin in February announced that the grand old party will contest nine seats out of 39 in the state. He further added that the Congress will contest the single Lok Sabha seat in Puducherry.
In 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had contested 10 seats in Tamil Nadu, while the two parties had fought separately. In 2009, the party put up candidates in 16 seats as part of the DMK-led alliance.
Delhi Congress President Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday, 5 March, announced that there won’t be an alliance between the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The announcement came after it was reported that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had called for a meeting with the Delhi unit leaders to discuss the possibility of an alliance with AAP.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the Congress is helping BJP by splitting the anti-BJP vote.
The AAP chief took to Twitter to allege that the Congress has “some secret understanding” with the BJP and Delhi is ready to fight against the “Congress-BJP alliance.”
In Maharashtra, while the Congress has finalised an arrangement with its natural ally Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, the inclusion of Raj Thackeray’s MNS is said to be a bone of contention there.
(With inputs from PTI)
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