Delhi’s political temperature at its peak, discussion on alliance between AAP and Congress increases

Delhi politics has become heated these days. A heated war of words continues between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Congress. All three parties are calling themselves true well-wishers of the people. Meanwhile, the India alliance is also in the news as some of the regional parties included in it are openly supporting AAP. However, Congress is an important part of this alliance. Some political analysts believe that AAP and Congress should have fought together in the Delhi elections. Come, let us know the reason behind this.

Primary goal is to defeat BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently called Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and offered support to Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the assembly elections.

• The offer was the result of discussions between other leaders of the India Bloc.
• Retweeting Kejriwal’s tweet, TMC leader Derek O’Brien wrote:
  

  “We are talking amongst ourselves. Our common goal is to defeat BJP.”

Steps towards Ginger Group

Some regional parties within the India Bloc are moving towards forming a ‘Ginger Group’.

• Parties like AAP, TMC, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Shiv Sena can become part of this group.
• After informal discussions between these parties, SP announced its support to Kejriwal on Tuesday and Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday.
• This development is being seen as a new strategy, where strong regional parties are coming together against the BJP.

Congress’s weak strike rate

Many leaders cited the weak performance of Congress as the reason for the change in these equations.

• The Congress’s crushing defeat in the Haryana elections exposed its weakness against the BJP in North India.
• In Maharashtra also, Congress had to face defeat under the leadership of Maha Vikas Aghadi.
• In states where Congress contested elections alone, its strike rate was very poor, such as:
  • Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Goa.
• Congress could win seats only in those states where it had strong allies.

Trying to give a signal to Congress

A senior leader of the India Bloc said:

“Strong regional parties have decided that they should give a political message to the Congress by forming a ginger group. This experiment of Delhi is a step in this direction.”

It is easy for parties like TMC and SP to support AAP in Delhi as they do not have any strong contenders in these states. But it is challenging for Congress and AAP, who are each other’s rivals in Delhi, to reach an agreement.