Allies at Centre, Congress & AAP ready to slug it out in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Congress is getting ready to launch a full-scale attack on Aam Aadmi Party by accusing the Kejriwal govt of "multiple failures" and "large-scale corruption" symbolised by the alleged the liquor scam.
With the leadership making it clear that there is "not much scope" for the two parties to form an alliance for the Delhi and Haryana polls, sources in the state unit said they would raise the city's "deterioration and widespread sleaze" in a big way.
In an interview with news agency PTI on Thursday, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said there was no one formula the INDIA bloc would follow for state elections. The group will fight together in states where Congress and other alliance partners agree to such an understanding, he said. Asked specifically whether there would be an alliance in Delhi and Haryana, Ramesh said, "There does not appear to be much scope (for alliance)."
Sources in the Delhi unit did not say their attack on Kejriwal marked a shift of stand. "We were the first to raise the liquor scam and other corruption cases. We even lodged a police case which cleared the stage for investigation. Our issue was only with the timing of his arrest and the intent behind it," said a senior functionary who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
AAP had made its position on Delhi clear last month with the party's city convenor Gopal Rai saying they would go alone in the Delhi assembly polls scheduled early next year.
Asked about the way forward, Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav reiterated that the aprty had entered into an alliance at the national level to save the Constitution. "We have not made any alliance over corruption," Yadav told TOI on Friday to drive home the point that Congress in Delhi would take up all issues where it sees corruption. In fact, in June 2022, then Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary had filed a complaint alleging a fraud in the liquor policy. This issue is likely be a flashpoint between AAP and Congress in the Capital.
Even though there is no alliance for assembly polls, both Congress and AAP are still part of the INDIA bloc nationally where they have been protesting against the misuse of central agencies against opposition leaders, including the arrest of Kejriwal and the former deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Some Congress leaders, however, defended their stance by saying they were protesting the timing and intent behind the arrest and the misuse of agencies and not the case itself.
Polls in Haryana are scheduled for later this year. Haryana PCC chief Udai Bhan told TOI he saw the polls in the state to be a contest between BJP and Congress and they were ready for the fight.