 in Rajya Sabha promulgated by the Centre, the party may soon get relief from Congress (which has the second most number of Rajya Sabha seats at 31), as the grand old party is planning to vote in favour of Kejriwal, sources said.){kind=link}
New Delhi
With AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal trying hard to muster support from anti-BJP parties to help him defeat the ordinance (services bill) in Rajya Sabha promulgated by the Centre, the party may soon get relief from Congress (which has the second most number of Rajya Sabha seats at 31), as the grand old party is planning to vote in favour of Kejriwal, sources said.
However, party leaders suggest that the state cadres of Congress in Delhi and Punjab have continued their bitterness towards AAP and are still resistant over Congress’ possible support to AAP. An ex-minister suggested that if support is declared by the Congress high command, these two state cadres can be persuaded to help the party in building a united Opposition.
A Delhi Congress spokesperson said, “If the Congress high command declares support for AAP, all the state cadres are bound to comply by the party’s top decision. Otherwise, decision could be taken against leaders who go against the party’s decisions. However, there could be problem among the party workers who have much bitterness against AAP as the party has run bitter campaigns against Congress in the past and is also considered a party which is closer to BJP in ideology. So that could be a problem for coming Lok Sabha elections. As far as the ordinance is concerned, we won’t have any problem on the ground if the high command decides to favour AAP.”
An AAP insider said, “We haven’t got any message yet that they are going to support us. But yes, it is difficult for our party to be able to defeat the ordinance even after Congress support, because there are a lot of complexities. Even if the Congress supports us, there is YSSRCP (which has 9 Rajya Sabha seats) which may vote in favour of us. There are chances because they know that TDP may ally with the BJP. There may be strong signals about that. So he could be coming together with the opposition camp. However, there is Biju Janata Dal (also with 9 Rajya Sabha seats) which may swing in BJP’s favour. So all the hard work by Kejriwal would go in vain. But it is a big thing that Kejriwal is single- handedly taking ahead the battle against the BJP.”
Congress leaders suggest that supporting AAP will send a message across. And in the grand scheme of things, it will make a grander image of Opposition unity, for all the parties will try to amplify a common narrative and be laser-focused in targeting the single party. A party leader said, “It will also inspire voters to vote for a common candidate wherever the Opposition fields a candidate.”
However, the war of words between AAP and Congress continues. Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Thursday said, “Congress party got zero seats in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly elections in Delhi. If Congress says they will not fight elections in Delhi-Punjab, then we will also say we will not fight elections in MP-Rajasthan.”