Congress aims at AAP Mukt Delhi

The main objective of the Aam Aadmi Party ever since it came to power in the capital has been to strive for making the country “Congress Mukt”.

- PANKAJ VOHRA

Ironically, this has also been the target of the Bharatiya Janata Party and is the principal reason why many detractors of Arvind Kejriwal refer to his outfit as the “B” Team of the RSS. In this tussle, which has in a way become an existential

crisis for the Congress in a city where it once wielded enormous power, partners of the I.N.D.I.A bloc have been critical of the grand old party, accusing it of diluting the efforts of the alliance which was formed against the saffron brigade.

What needs to be clearly understood is that all the stakeholders of this association, described as I.N.D.I.A bloc, have their own interests in mind, and when it comes to politics, they often place their priorities above those of the alliance.

So far as the AAP-Congress relations are concerned, it is a well-known fact that the AAP has always attempted to weaken the Congress. Knowing fully well that its nominees stood little chance of winning, the AAP fielded candidates in Haryana, Goa and Gujarat. The end result was that this participation in the polls helped the BJP and resulted in the Congress ending up on the losing side.

In Punjab also, the AAP has come to power replacing the Congress, though it has not been as successful as it was in other regions, primarily because the other parties such as the BJP and the Akali Dal virtually collapsed in the Assembly and the Parliament elections. The Congress despite being trounced in the Assembly confrontation, has somehow survived in the border state.