High time Congress, BJP made their covert alliance official, says AAP chief

Arvind Kejriwal criticizes Congress and BJP, urging them to openly form an alliance for Delhi Assembly election.

Sharpening his attack on the Congress and BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday advised the two parties to “give up behind-the-scenes collaboration” and formally “announce an alliance” for the Delhi Assembly election due in February. “The Congress and the BJP should officially declare that they are contesting the elections against AAP in an alliance. This covert collaboration is unacceptable,” he alleged. Mr. Kejriwal’s allegations came against the backdrop of a demonstration by senior Congress leaders, including “Punjab women voters”, who “warned” the people of Delhi against the “false promises” of AAP, particularly of cash transfers to women. They said that similar promises made ahead of the Punjab Assembly election were “yet to be fulfilled” despite AAP being in power in the State for nearly three years now. Mr. Kejriwal alleged that the women protesting were “not from Punjab” and were, in fact, “party workers of both the BJP and Congress”. Attacking the BJP, Mr. Kejriwal said the party had “no chief ministerial face or agenda” and its leaders were trying to win the Delhi poll by “abusing him in the absence of any achievement” they could discuss. Taking a jibe at the Congress, the AAP chief alleged that barring a few mediapersons, no one takes the grand old party “seriously”. ‘Hollow promises’ Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa were joined by All India Congress Committee treasurer Ajay Maken and Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav at a demonstration in New Delhi’s Vijay Chowk, where party workers held placards that read: “In Punjab, they betrayed women; in Delhi, these lies will not get another chance”. “We want to assure the people of Delhi, especially the Congress cadres here [Delhi], that the senior leadership of Punjab Congress will extensively campaign in the upcoming Delhi Assembly election,” Mr. Warring said. “Just like AAP deceived the women of Punjab, similarly, it will deceive the women of Delhi now. Today, we want to tell the people of Delhi and the women that you should not fall for false words and hollow promises,” the Punjab Congress chief alleged. Referring to the “promised cash transfer” to women in Punjab, Mr. Bajwa said Mr. Kejriwal owed ₹34,000 crore to the women of Punjab. Mr. Maken said the Punjab Congress leaders’ revelations vindicated his position that Mr. Kejriwal was, in fact, a “Farziwal” (liar) and “anti-national”. AAP and Congress fought the Lok Sabha election in Delhi as a part of the INDIA alliance but have chosen to contest the Delhi Assembly election due in February separately. Since 2015, Congress has had no representation in the Delhi Assembly.