Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has taken the final decision not to form an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the national election, sources said.
Sheila Dikshit, former chief minister of Delhi and the head of the state Congress, was conveyed this decision by party leaders PC Chacko and KC Venugopal in a late-night meeting, according to sources. The message was conveyed on the eve of her birthday. Ms Dikshit turns 81 today.
The meeting at Ms Dikshit’s home ended past midnight. A formal announcement is likely to be made today. “You will get to know about it in a matter of few hours, by this evening or by tomorrow. There will be an official announcement,” Ms Dikshit told reporters this morning.
Sheila Dikshit, a three-time chief minister whose term ended with the AAP’s stunning rise in Delhi, had warned in a letter to Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi that an alliance with Mr Kejriwal’s party would hurt the Congress in the long run.
Ms Dikshit, who was vehemently opposed to the idea of a tie-up between the two parties, had said she would stick to the party’s decision. Sources had said other Delhi Congress leaders wanted the tie up and had written to Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress leaders met at Ms Dikshit’s home also to shortlist candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the capital. The committee is tasked to shortlist names from around 80 applications received from party probables for the seven seats last month.
Sheila Dikshit maintained that Arvind Kejriwal had not approached her.
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