New Delhi: A day after differences came to the fore between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress over contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, the AAP said the Congress has now made its stand clear and “the matter is over”. Congress leader Alka Lamba on Wednesday courted controversy after she said that the party leadership has instructed her to work hard on all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi ahead of the 2024 elections.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi cabinet minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said on Thursday that the Congress itself has now “denied its statement”. He said, “It is good. The matter is over now. Congress has given clarification and everything is clear now. All the parties sit together and calculate and then such things are decided. Spokespersons give statements.
AAP’s Delhi State Convenor and Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai advised to be patient in the present circumstances. He said, ‘The Congress party specified that the statements of some of its leaders were personal remarks. I think there is a need to be patient for the time being and a way will be found till the next meeting (of the India alliance) in Mumbai.
Congress leaders from Delhi held a meeting with the party’s top leadership on Wednesday to review preparations for the Lok Sabha elections and discussed ways to strengthen the organisation. After the meeting, Lamba had said, “No decision has been taken yet on whether to form an alliance or not, but we have been asked to prepare for all the seven seats.” We will go to the public firmly after preparing properly on all the seven seats.
Following his remarks, AAP had said that there was no point in attending the next meeting of the All India Alliance in Mumbai if the Congress wanted to go it alone in Delhi. Sources said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who were present in the meeting, asked the party leaders to remain united and stay connected with the people.
On Wednesday itself, Congress’ Delhi unit chief Anil Chowdhary clarified that Wednesday’s meeting was not about forging an alliance in Delhi and there was no discussion about it. He told PTI-language, “You can guess, but the decision on the alliance will be taken by the central leadership of the Congress and it will also be announced by them.” We will raise questions about corruption here as an opposition party.” Other party leaders also expressed similar views.
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