How allies banded to back AAP, not Cong

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's call to former Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, offering her Trinamool Congress's (TMC) support for the party in the upcoming assembly polls in the Capital came after several rounds of discussions between senior leaders of not just the two parties, but others in the larger INDIA bloc as well, people familiar with the matter said.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's call to former Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, offering her Trinamool Congress's (TMC) support for the party in the upcoming assembly polls in the Capital came after several rounds of discussions between senior leaders of not just the two parties, but others in the larger INDIA bloc as well, people familiar with the matter said.

"We have been talking among ourselves at various levels. We are not NGOs but political parties and our common goal is to defeat the BJP," said TMC's Derek O'Brien, who retweeted Kejriwal's tweet expressing gratitude to Banerjee on Wednesday.

The AAP, the Samajwadi Party and the TMC have been in touch with each other over the Delhi elections, two leaders of INDIA bloc members (neither belongs to the Congress) added. "During our informal discussions, we formulated a joint strategy. Accordingly, SP announced its support for Kejriwal on Tuesday and Banerjee extended support on Wednesday," said one of them.