The Congress is likely to announce the alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the upcoming parliamentary elections once the two parties reach a seat sharing arrangement, senior party leaders said. Senior Congress leaders said though a ‘consensus has been reached’ between the top leadership of the two parties, the two camps have so far been unable to finalise a seat sharing arrangement for the seven parliamentary segments in the city. Delhi Congress in-charge PC Chacko said the announcement of the alliance will take some more time as “a lot of things will have to be worked out with the AAP”. “A decision on the alliance needs to be taken by Congress president Rahul Gandhi ji, but a lot of things also need to be worked out with the other party (AAP),” Chacko said. Senior Congress leaders said that the party had clearly stated in the beginning that they would agree to an alliance on 3:3:1, where one seat will be fought by an independent candidate supported by both parties. However, later the party also offered a compromise on a 4:3 partnership (four for AAP and three for Congress) but the AAP has been insisting on giving only two seats to the Congress. Sanjay Singh, AAP Rajya Sabha MP, said the 5:2 seat sharing offer was “non-negotiable”. “The Congress is confused. We have already begun our campaign in all seven constituencies and we will fight these elections on our own,” said AAP’s Delhi in-charge Gopal Rai. Delhi Congress leaders said the “Congress is a national party and it does not need a party that has not managed to win a single election since 2015”. They said it is the AAP that needs them to “manage” at least a few seats from Delhi. “We did not go to them for an alliance. Our leaders have not been pleading for an alliance. We are in a position of fighting the elections on our own. The final decision, however, will come from the top leadership,” said Delhi Congress working president Rajesh Lilothia. Meanwhile, the confusion over the alliance is affecting Delhi Congress’s campaigns. Compared to its opponents, AAP and the BJP, the Congress is yet to start any major rally or campaign. Though two new campaign ideas were announced by the Delhi Congress this week, it will be started only after April 1. “You cannot compare our strategy with the AAP or the BJP. We have our own plan and I do not wish to comment on their campaign,” said Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit.<doc-sep>Text Size: A- A+ New Delhi: The final decision on a possible AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi will be taken by Congress president Rahul Gandhi early next week, senior party leaders said Saturday. A senior Congress functionary said that Gandhi, while taking the decision, will factor in the response from Delhi Congress workers, over 50 per cent of whom backed the alliance in a poll conducted on the party’s Shakti platform. The Shakti platform serves as a digital interface between the party’s cadre and its high command and on 4 March, audio messages were sent to workers, through the platform, seeking their opinion on the alliance. “Majority of the workers have said yes for an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections so that the BJP can be defeated,” the senior Congress functionary said. “The results have been presented to the Congress president who will take a final call on the issue.” Also read: Will contest Lok Sabha polls from Chandni Chowk irrespective of alliance with AAP, says Kapil Sibal An alliance months in the making The AAP and the Congress had for months been in talks for an alliance this Lok Sabha election, which starts 11 April. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sheila Dikshit, however, refuted the possibility of a tie-up earlier this month after a meeting between local party members and the top brass. Dikshit’s stance on the alliance is at odds with the opinion of senior Congress leaders, such as P.C. Chacko and former Union minister Ajay Maken, who are said to be open to the idea. Congress sources say that even Rahul Gandhi was not in favour of the alliance as he holds AAP leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal responsible for the party’s ouster from power at the Centre in 2014. Gandhi is, however, under pressure from senior party colleagues who argue that the priority for the party at this stage is to remove Narendra Modi from power and in the absence of a Congress alliance with AAP, the BJP could sweep all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. Also read: Open to alliance with AAP in Delhi? Congress asks workers after rejecting tie-up Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram<doc-sep>NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit and other leaders of the unit Monday discussed the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Lok Sabha polls in the city in a meeting with party chief Rahul Gandhi The opinion on the issue remained divided and everyone in the meeting was unanimous that Gandhi should take a final call on it in the larger interest of the party, said a participant of the meeting.Sources said four former Delhi Congress presidents - Ajay Maken , Subhash Chopra, Tajdar Babar and Arvinder Singh Lovely - favoured an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. "AICC in-charge of Delhi Congress PC Chacko also handed over signed letters of 12 district Congress presidents, leaders of the party and councilors in three municipal corporation, in favour of the alliance, to Gandhi," they said.Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit and three working presidents Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia, and Haroon Yusuf maintained their stand against the alliance, sources said.<doc-sep>Congress president Rahul Gandhi met senior leaders from party’s Delhi unit again on Monday to ask their opinion on a possible alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, as confusion continued within the party leadership over the partnership. Gandhi had met Delhi Congress leaders earlier this month too when the majority of the leaders, including Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit, had expressed “strong disapproval” for a seat sharing arrangement with the AAP for the seven Lok Sabha segments in the national capital. On Monday too, senior leaders Dikshit, JP Agarwal, Yoganand Shastri, and three working presidents Haroon Yusuf, Devender Yadav and Rajesh Lilothia opposed an alliance with the AAP. While former Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken and AICC in-charge of Delhi PC Chacko stuck to their stand of favouring a tie-up, former state Congress presidents Arvinder Singh Lovely and Subhash Chopra changed their stand in favour of the alliance with the AAP. Another former Delhi Congress president Tajdar Babar, who did not attend the last meeting, also spoke in favour of the alliance but considering her age and poor health, her opinion was not counted, party leaders said. Chacko also handed over signed letters by 12 district presidents and party representatives in the three municipal corporations supporting the alliance. “We have conveyed our stand to Rahul ji. He will take a decision soon. Yes, the stand on the alliance was still divided but we have been able to get more people in favour of a tie-up,” Chacko said. Party leaders said differences were visible in the meeting with the section in favour of the alliance saying that the Congress will lose all seven seats in Delhi if they the party did not partner with the AAP. “Differences are bound to happen but we have conveyed our opinion to Rahulji and we will abide by his final decision,” said Devender Yadav, one of the DPCC working presidents. While the Congress remained indecisive, AAP leaders said that they were focussing on campaign meetings as the polling date is nearing. “Congress is busy conducing meetings its leaders and AAP is busy with public meetings. The country’s future is at stake but the Congress is confused. It looks like they are not serious about Delhi. AAP is serious and, therefore, it is demanding full statehood for Delhi. Our seven candidates have done a lot of ground work,” said AAP’s Delhi in-charge Gopal Rai. Senior Congress leaders said they are hoping that Gandhi will make a final announcement on the alliance by Wednesday.<doc-sep>
Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit and three working presidents Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia, and Haroon Yusuf maintained their stand against the alliance, sources said. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit and other leaders of the unit on Monday discussed the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Lok Sabha polls in the city in a meeting with party chief Rahul Gandhi. The opinion remained divided on the issue and everyone in the meeting was unanimous that Gandhi should take a final call on it in the larger interest of the party, said a participant of the meeting. Sources said four former Delhi Congress presidents -- Ajay Maken, Subhash Chopra, Tajdar Babar and Arvinder Singh Lovely favoured an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. "AICC in-charge of Delhi Congress PC Chacko also handed over signed letters of 12 district Congress presidents, leaders of the party and councilors in three municipal corporation, in favour of the alliance, to Gandhi," they said. Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit and three working presidents Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia, and Haroon Yusuf maintained their stand against the alliance, sources said. The AAP has been seeking an alliance with the Congress in Delhi but the grand old party has not made its stand clear on the possible tie-up. However, after getting no clear response from the Congress, the AAP declared its last candidate in Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls, with a senior leader saying the announcement was made seeing the Congress' "irresponsible and indecisive" attitude towards the alliance. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had also said internal surveys have indicated that the AAP is capable of winning all seven seats in Delhi on its own and it does not require an alliance with the Congress in Delhi. However, the Congress and the AAP last Tuesday made fresh efforts with the help of NCP chief Sharad Pawar to forge an alliance in Delhi for the polls. Sources said last week AAP made a fresh bid to forge an alliance with the Congress in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, with the former demanding five seats in the national capital. However, shortly after the meeting Kejriwal said that the Congress has refused to form an alliance with the AAP in Delhi and the two parties are not in talks with each other. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading.