New Delhi: The Congress said that some INDIA bloc partners like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) campaigning for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi would neither affect the grand old party nor the opposition grouping which had a national role.
Over the coming days SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh jointly with the Congress, and senior leaders of the TMC, which chose to go solo in the national elections in West Bengal, will seek votes in support of AAP ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly elections.
"The regional parties have their own agenda and reasons for supporting each other. The SP and TMC backing AAP in Delhi will have no effect on the Congress prospects which were trying to revive itself in the state elections. The INDIA bloc parties will however stay together and take on the NDA government during the parliament session," Congress whip in the Lok Sabha Mohammed Jawed told ETV Bharat.
The winter session of Parliament starts on January 31. "Issues like unemployment, price rise, economy and threat to the Constitution will be raised by the INDIA bloc. We have been flagging these issues for some time and will do so again as they are being ignored by the government," said Jawed.
The MP said additional issues to be taken up during the Parliament session will be decided during the Congress parliamentary party meeting to be held soon.
The issue of parties like the SP and TMC choosing the AAP over the Congress in Delhi has been projected as a sign of strain within the opposition grouping by the rival National Democratic Alliance (NDA). While the Congress national leaders have tried to play down the reports of differences among the bloc, leaders like Sandeep Dikshit and Alka Lamba, who are contesting the Delhi polls against AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi from the New Delhi and Kalkaji seats respectively, have slammed the two regional parties saying nothing would save the AAP from a slide now.
While Dikshit reminded Akhilesh of the charges that Kejriwal had earlier levelled against his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lamba had said that Kejriwal was summoning outside parties to bail him out. The Shiv Sena UBT too had been critical of the Congress fighting against the AAP in Delhi but said that party chief Uddhav Thackeray was unlikely to campaign for AAP in the city.
Congress insiders said the grand old party was running a good campaign and getting a good response on the ground as compared to the 2020 polls. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi seeking votes for Dikshit in the New Delhi seat and for Patparganj candidate Anil Chaudhary on Tuesday showed the Congress could get a few seats this time, the insiders said, adding that this was further indicated by the BSP nominee in the Mustafabad seat Neeru Chaudhary extending support to the party candidate Ali Mehndi.
"All our top leaders will also campaign and our senior All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders are already campaigning across Delhi including CWC member Sachin Pilot and Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi besides independent MP Pappu Yadav," Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav told ETV Bharat.
