In the most recent episode of Lallantop’s political programme Netanagri, India Today anchor Rajdeep Sardesai disclosed that Arvind Kejriwal, the pioneer of the Aam Aadmi Party and chief minister of Delhi, had expressed interest in forming an alliance with the Congress prior to the Gujarat assembly elections last year.
He was one of the guests on the show. While talking to the host Saurabh Trivedi, he revealed, that AAP wanted to reach a seat-sharing agreement with Congress, to stop the ruling Bharitya Janta Party from forming government in the state.
“For many months leading up to the election, Arvind Kejriwal sought a meeting with Congress. Before the elections, he reportedly spoke over the phone with Sonia Gandhi, and asked her to contest the polls together,” Rajdeep claimed.
“Kejriwal urged her, that we can devise a formula to fight the election jointly. He told her that we could defeat the BJP by winning most seats in at least 70 constituencies if we worked together,” he continued.
According to Rajdeep Sardesai, Sonia Gandhi assured the CM that she will listen to his proposal and “get back to him,” but she never did. “Arvind Kejriwal even tried to contact Rahul Gandhi,” he added.
Kejriwal had drawn similarities between BJP and Congress even as he made overtures to Sonia Gandhi
During Gujarat elections, Kejriwal frequently remarked, that “BJP and the Congress are two sides of the same coin.”
Bharatiya Janata Party, won a majority of 156 seats, the most ever won by any party in Gujarat’s history, continuing its reign since 1998. The Indian National Congress won 17 seats, and fell to its lowest count in the state for 3 decades.
Aam Aadmi Party which declared, that the party will form the next government in the state could manage to clinch only 5 assembly seats.