A day after a possible alliance between the two parties fell through, the Congress on Wednesday said nine of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) sitting legislators, including sacked minister Sandeep Kumar, had expressed their desire to join the party.
The AAP dismissed the claims.
Senior Congress leaders said Kumar had met Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) chief Sheila Dikshit to talk about his possible role in the party.
A day earlier, on Tuesday, Dikshit had announced that there would be no seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and AAP in Delhi for the coming Lok Sabha elections, ending weeks of speculation.
Delhi Congress spokesperson Jitender Kochar on Wednesday said nine of AAP’s sitting MLAs, including Kumar, wanted to quit AAP and join the Congress.
“After we ruled out the alliance, which Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener) was so desperate to have, there is panic in their camp. Their leaders know AAP has no future in Delhi,” Kochar said.
Refusing to give out names, Kochar said they were working out on how they could be inducted into the Congress.
{{/usCountry}}Refusing to give out names, Kochar said they were working out on how they could be inducted into the Congress.
{{/usCountry}}Congress leaders said they were considering the requests of the legislators but refused to entertain any conditions.
In response, Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said there were serious allegations against Sandeep Kumar —with sensational videos purportedly featuring him emerging and a rape case being registered against him.
“The chief minister immediately removed him from the cabinet while the Aam Aadmi Party suspended him from the party. Since then, he is not invited in any meetings or programmes of the party,” Bharadwaj said.
Sandeep Kumar could not be contacted for a comment.
Bharadwaj, however, dismissed the Congress’ claims of any other AAP MLA leaving the party.
“Not even a single Aam Aadmi Party MLA talks to Kumar in the assembly...no MLA will follow him to the Congress camp. The party with zero MLAs are claiming to have lured nine of our MLAs,” he said.
Senior Delhi Congress leaders on Tuesday had a meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, where they unanimously opposed an alliance with the AAP.
Dikshit had said the Congress in Delhi was capable of fighting and winning the elections in its own right.