New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday slammed the Congress-AAP tie-up as an alliance of the corrupt, asserting that neither chemistry nor mathematics favours the two parties against the ruling combine led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi and Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva told a press conference that in the states where the alliance matters — be it Gujarat, Haryana, Chandigarh, Goa or the national capital — the BJP had got well over 50 per cent votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
This “corrupt” alliance will not work against those known for serving the people, Lekhi said, citing numerous allegations of graft AAP leaders had levelled against the Congress in the past.
Sachdeva said the move “shows Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has lost his connection” with Delhiites.
Lekhi said Kejriwal used to not only describe most ministers in the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre during 2004-14 as corrupt but had also demanded the withdrawal of the Bharat Ratna from the late Rajiv Gandhi, she said.
Two parties who have no strength to stand on their feet have decided to support each other but it will not work, she added.
At the press conference, she also lashed out at the West Bengal government over the Sandeshkhali incident.
She alleged that the state police have been harassing the victim women instead of acting against Sheikh Shajahan, accused of running a ring of Trinamool Congress (TMC) members who captured land and sexually assaulted women under coercion.
Commenting on the Congress-AAP alliance, Sachdeva asserted that the BJP will again win all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, adding that it is good that the two parties have joined hands as they cannot blame division of votes for their impending loss.
The AAP — with 62 MLAs in the Delhi Assembly — has knelt before the Congress, which has no MLAs, to hide its corruption under the veneer of the alliance, he claimed.
Lekhi said Kejriwal has been evading the Enforcement Directorate’s summonses so that he could seal the alliance before his likely arrest in the alleged excise scam case.
The chief minister once swore in the name of his children that he will never ally with the Congress, she said.
Lekhi also claimed that it was the Congress that initially propped up the AAP to dent the BJP’s anti-corruption campaign against the UPA government.
Earlier in a statement, Sachdeva said, “Kejriwal’s alliance with the Congress shows he has lost his connection with Delhiites. The AAP knows that the rural population, traders and the Dalits of Delhi are not with them.”
“By deciding to ally with the Congress, the Delhi chief minister who has 62 of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly has shown that he has lost faith of almost half of Delhi,” he added.
Sachdeva said the people of Delhi are “shocked to see” the AAP and the Congress forming an electoral alliance and added that, irrespective of the collaboration, the BJP will win all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
“Irrespective of this alliance, the BJP will win all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi with a huge margin on the basis of support from all sections of society,” Sachdeva said.
“The people of Delhi are surprised that till the other day, both the Congress and the AAP called each other corrupt and today they formed an alliance,” he added.
The AAP will contest four Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and the Congress three, the parties said on Saturday as they announced their seat-sharing arrangements for the national capital, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana.
There are seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi and all were won by the BJP in the 2019 polls.
Addressing a joint press conference in the national capital, Congress leader Mukul Wasnik announced that the AAP will contest the New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and the East Delhi seats while his party will contest from Chandni Chowk, Northeast Delhi and Northwest Delhi.
Speaking about the seat-sharing formula between the AAP and the Congress, Sachdeva alleged that by giving the Northwest Delhi seat to the Congress, the AAP leadership has confirmed that it has lost connect with the rural population and the Dalit voters.
“Northwest Delhi is an SC reserved seat with a large rural population along with a huge Scheduled Caste population. By surrendering that seat, the AAP has proven that they don’t connect with the rural and the Dalit population anymore,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari lashed out at the AAP and the Congress, alleging that the Kejriwal-led party has been disappointed with the seat-sharing formula.
“Kejriwal attacked the Congress time and again and removed it from power in Delhi but now they are forming an alliance. The alliance also shows both the parties’ disappointments. The parties collaborated for their own benefits,” he said.
Tiwari alleged that the AAP “doesn’t care about the citizens’ wellbeing” and added that they have formed an alliance “for their own benefits”.
“Two parties joining hands doesn’t mean they can garner more votes from the citizens. They don’t care about the wellbeing of Delhiites, they only care about their personal benefits,” he alleged.
