As the Aam Aadmi Party was preparing to from the government, the Congress has dropped a bomb, with sources saying that the party may withdraw support to the AAP. Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi said there were differences of opinion within the Congress about supporting AAP, and the party was seriously considering withdrawing support.
While the AAP had never wanted support from the party, it decided to take support after Congress said the support was 'unconditional'. However, the Congress had later denied offering unconditional support. So, will it work against the grand old party's interest if it withdraws support?
Editorial Director of The New India Express Prabhu Chawla thinks not. "I would say the Congress has nothing to lose, because it has become a small third in Delhi. It has realised that whenever it has supported a regional party, the Congress has lost that state permanently," Chawla said during a debate on CNN-IBN.
Meanwhile AAP's Atishi Marlena said that it does not make a difference to the party if the Congress really does wihtdraw its support. "It is difficult to say what the Congress is thinking. We never asked for their support. The Congress needs to take the decision internally.
We have 18 issues on which we needed support. If they support it then we can form the government, if not then we don't want their support. If they decide to withdraw, it is their decision," Marlena said. AAP had, in its manisfesto, said that it would open probes into money laundering and other scams by previous governments. And they also were the ones to allege that Robert Vadra was involved in a land scam.
Is that the reason the Congress is now unsure? CNN-IBN's Pallavi Ghosh was of the opinion that the Congress always knew that this was coming and that it must have been at Rahul Gandhi's behest that the party decided to support AAP, but now they are rethinking it. "The Congress should have seen it coming that the AAP will open up scams," Ghosh said. Meanwhile, BJP's Sambit Patra said that the Congress was not the only thing that the AAP should be worried about.
"Now the AAP also has to worry about internal factionalism as reports emerging of differences of opinion within the party. And as for the Congress it can not only ditch the AAP, it is capable of ditching the whole nation," Patra said. Chawla was of the opinion that the AAP should have been weary of the Congress.
"The LG has been duly following the procedure. AAP also came to conclusion that it will form the government after taking public opinion. The Congress party has belatedly realised that it was doing a wrong thing. Kejriwal should not have trusted the Congress," Chawla said.
Now that AAP had decided to form the government in Delhi, preparations were in full swing for Arvind Kejriwal's swearing in ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan with much fervour. The Congress backing out at the last moment may make things worse when it comes to its image. The image of the party has already taken a beating with its non performance. "If they withdraw support, then it is their decision, but they would stand exposed," Marlena said.
Pallavi Ghosh was of the opinion that it shows the confusion that prevails within the Congress. "They didn't say that in the letter, but they did officially say it was unconditional support. It was more of Rahul's decision. It was to align with AAP and contain Modi," she said. Patra also alleged that there might have been some sort of behind the scene talks between the two parties. "There has been a veiled condition, there has been behind the scene talks within Congress and AAP," he said.
Denying any such talks, Marlena said, "It was clear to us from the beginning that both the BJP and the Congress were indulging in double talk. We were skeptical about both the parties. But since the Congress had said there would be unconditional support, we went ahead for it," she said. Meanwhile, Chawla said probably the Congress wants the BJP to pull down the AAP government in Delhi instead of doing it themselves. "AAP is an idea that cannot be killed.
The Congress may decide to stay away and let the BJP defeat the government. Everyone know AAP won't compromise on Congress's principles. The Congress may not pull down the government, but might let BJP pull down the government," he said.
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