The main objective of the Aam Aadmi Party ever since it came to power in the capital has been to strive for making the country “Congress Mukt”. Ironically, this has also been the target of the Bharatiya Janata Party and is the principal reason why many detractors of Arvind Kejriwal refer to his outfit as the “B” Team of the RSS.
In this tussle, which has in a way become an existential crisis for the Congress in a city where it once wielded enormous power, partners of the I.N.D.I.A bloc have been critical of the grand old party, accusing it of diluting the efforts of the alliance which was formed against the saffron brigade.
What needs to be clearly understood is that all the stakeholders of this association, described as I.N.D.I.A bloc, have their own interests in mind, and when it comes to politics, they often place their priorities above those of the alliance.
So far as the AAP-Congress relations are concerned, it is a well-known fact that the AAP has always attempted to weaken the Congress. Knowing fully well that its nominees stood little chance of winning, the AAP fielded candidates in Haryana, Goa and Gujarat. The end result was that this participation in the polls helped the BJP and resulted in the Congress ending up on the losing side.
In Punjab also, the AAP has come to power replacing the Congress, though it has not been as successful as it was in other regions, primarily because the other parties such as the BJP and the Akali Dal virtually collapsed in the Assembly and the Parliament elections. The Congress despite being trounced in the Assembly confrontation, has somehow survived in the border state.
In Delhi, the AAP has been taking swipes at the Congress and when senior leader Ajay Maken hit back at Kejriwal, the party threatened to get the Congress thrown out of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, unless Maken was replaced.
There were reports about Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav throwing their weight behind the AAP, thus forcing the Congress to be on the back foot. Both these leaders as well as many other allies are apprehensive about the Congress making a comeback and resurrecting itself. This is because the resurrection shall take place at the expense of the regional parties.
In fact, if the One Nation, One Poll objective of the ruling dispensation becomes a reality, the development would suit the Congress, since it would lead to the emergence of a two-party system over the years, and render the regional players more or less ineffective. This is a scenario that would be in the interests of both the Congress and the BJP, which has also finished many regional players who aligned with it in various elections over a period of time. The fear amongst the Congress allies is that ultimately this may happen to them as well.
Coming back to Delhi, the general impression is that Ajay Maken, who had taken up the cudgels on behalf of his party against the AAP, has been sidelined. His press conference, which was scheduled last week, was cancelled and he has not been seen or heard commenting on the city’s developments ever since.
This is where the Congress high command appears to be faltering. It has to be clearly understood that the political space occupied by the AAP once belonged to the Congress. Therefore, what Maken was doing while attacking the AAP was perfectly a correct strategy. The charge against him was that he was soft on the BJP and instead harsh on an I.N.D.I.A bloc ally.
This may sound so, but the BJP has a captive and committed vote bank of at least 32% votes which shall not waver. However, this time, the AAP is on a sticky wicket and though many pundits are predicting that ultimately Kejriwal’s party would form the government in the city, it is vulnerable.
This is the best chance for the Congress to regain some of its lost space. Things have changed since the 2020 polls. The Muslims have returned to the Congress and the Dalits are divided. The Sikhs also favour the grand old party and thus the time for the political assault on AAP is appropriate.
The Maken thesis is justified from his party’s perspective and in the multiple ironies which politics often throw up, the objective of the Congress and the BJP is looking similar. It is the desire of both to end the AAP regime in Delhi.
However, the layers of politics are different. The BJP and the Congress can never have an alliance but it is in their common interest that Kejriwal’s party should be weakened. The Congress hopes to regain some of the ground it had lost while the BJP wishes to be in power.
Maken has many detractors in his own party who keep on questioning his conduct while accusing him of being hand in glove with the BJP. The question which is important right now is whether paying back AAP in its own coin would help the Congress and if the high command surrenders to its I.N.D.I.A bloc allies, would the Congress be finished in Delhi forever.
The entire political scenario has to be viewed from the prism of survival. The Congress can only resuscitate if the AAP’s influence is diminished even if it leads to the BJP coming to power. The field is open and Kejriwal continues to enjoy the advantage. But Maken is not wrong. Between us.