Even with the Congress cold-shouldering the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on upcoming presidential polls slated for July 17, the AAP is most likely to back the Opposition’s nominee Meira Kumar. Though the party is yet to convene a meeting of its highest decision-making body, the Political Affairs Committee that will formally decide who the party will vote for and thereafter communicate to its representatives, sources from AAP said that the party will ‘absolutely not vote for the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind.’
The growing chasm between Congress and AAP has been visible over the past month, as the grand old party consciously left out AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal from the joint meetings of the Opposition while it was deliberating over its probable candidate. Even as 17 Opposition parties came together for the meetings, AAP was repeatedly cold-shouldered. However, senior Opposition leaders such as CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee played conduits to keep the channel of communication open on both ends.
While Congress was not agreed to share the same space with Kejriwal, the latter having made scathing attacks on the party so far too did not want to be seen on friendly terms with Congress leaders. “Not being a part of the meetings worked both ways. We did not miss being a part of the deliberations. As for our final choice, a PAC will formally decide who our elected representatives will vote for. What is certain is that we will vote,” said a senior AAP functionary.
The AAP roughly has 9000 votes, which though not sizeable, is significant in symbolic terms. Senior leaders said that the party will now ‘have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.’ “Going with Kovind is next to impossible. It will be a clash of our ideologies. Kumar seems like the logical choice for AAP as it would mean backing a woman and a Dalit.
As the AAP aims at emerging as a formidable force in national politics, opting out of the presidential polls would mean letting go of its position as a member of the Opposition, said another party leader.
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