AAP campaigning in Congress-governed poll-bound states after discord over Delhi ordinance issue

After the tumultuous meeting in Patna where other parties refused to pressure Congress on the Delhi ordinance issue, the AAP is now aggressively entering poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan where the Grand Old Party is a prominent force, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal playing the lead role.

This comes only a couple of months after Kejriwal skipped visiting Karnataka to support his party candidates in the Assembly election where Congress emerged victorious in its direct fight against the BJP. AAP had queered the pitch for the Congress earlier in Gujarat and Goa, which had earlier prompted the party to call AAP the B-team of BJP.

Interestingly, Kejriwal also has not set his eyes on another poll-bound state — Telangana — where AAP has cordial relations with ruling BRS led by K Chandrasekhar Rao, whom top Congress leader Rahul has described as “BJP Rishtedar Samiti”. 

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A senior AAP leader asked why they should not enter these states as the Congress is unwilling to announce its stand on the contentious ordinance that gives control of Delhi bureaucrats to the union government. 

With the Congress remaining adamant on its stand, asking AAP to wait, the Kejriwal-led party has not taken to it kindly. Kejriwal, on July 1, held a rally in Madhya Pradesh followed by one the next day in neighbouring Chhattisgarh where he attacked the Congress.

AAP has already announced that it would not be part of any Opposition alliance or meetings with Congress presence until the latter clears its stand. It wanted the Congress to announce its stand soon after the Patna meeting, but after assurance from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, other parties said AAP should not insist on Congress announcing its support on that day itself.

Tension was rising within the two parties in the run up to the Patna meeting with Kejriwal himself targeting Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at a rally in the state on June 18. Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also said in mid-June that it can decide not to fight Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan provided Congress leaves Delhi and Punjab to it.

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The starting point for change in AAP’s approach to Congress after a brief bonhomie between both the sides could be Punjab, where the AAP decided to fight the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypolls, necessitated after the death of sitting Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. 

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is said to have insisted that AAP fight the bypolls in a seat considered to be a Congress stronghold. Mann is learnt to have told the central leadership, including Kejriwal, that he could deliver the Lok Sabha seats in Punjab for the party, as he believes that the Congress is in shambles in the state.

A number of second-rung leaders in AAP also have strong anti-Congress feelings and this, sources said, has added to Kejriwal’s latest foray into Congress strongholds.