New Delhi, 23 January- The AAP is closely monitoring the Congress campaign in about ten constituencies in the city, despite the party’s public assertions that Congress is irrelevant.
According to sources who spoke to The Indian Express, the Congress is likely to put up a fierce fight in places like Badli, Chandni Chowk, and Okhla.
While former Congress MLA Asif Ahmed Khan’s daughter Ariba Khan is contesting from Okhla against AAP’s Amanatullah Khan, senior Congress leader J P Aggarwal’s son Mudit Aggarwal is going up against AAP’s Punardeep Singh Sawhney, who is the son of sitting MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney from Chandni Chowk. From Badli, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav will go up against AAP’s Ajesh Yadav.
The AAP is closely monitoring the Congress campaign in about ten constituencies ahead of Delhi Elections, despite the party’s public assertions that Congress is irrelevant
“For us, the worry is not that the Congress will win the seat but that it will end up helping BJP solidify its position. For the BJP, which has been out of power in the Delhi Assembly for 27 years now, this is a very crucial election. An increase in Congress’s vote share will only help them,” said a senior party leader.
“Look at what happened in the 2017 MCD polls. The AAP had won the Assembly polls only two years ago with a massive vote share of 54% and Congress was reduced to 10%. But Congress fought the MCD elections well. The AAP vote share dropped to 26%, as the Congress’s rose to 21%. The BJP went up by just 4 percentage points but swept those polls,” said an AAP insider as quoted by The Indian Express.
The AAP, which is battling its most difficult election to date, thinks that if it wins more than 50 of the 70 seats, it will be in a comfortable position. The top leadership will be uncomfortable with anything less than that.
Over the past year, the party has been shaken by a number of setbacks, including the arrest of its leaders in the excise policy case and the departure of four MLAS, including former minister Kailash Gahlot.
