congress-aap-relationship-at-crossroads

The Congress-Aam Aadmi Party relationship, if there was any, is at crossroads. The AAP has threatened to seek the expulsion of the Congress from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) over party (Congress’) Treasurer Ajay Maken’s Wednesday’s fiercely critical remarks against the party (the AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal, where he described him as an “anti-national”.

 

Besides Maken, Sandeep Dikshit is another senior party leader who has also been critical of the AAP and Kejriwal. There is a strong section of leadership within the Delhi Congress, which wants the party to take a decisive anti-AAP stance if it has really to revive, survive and reemerge in Delhi’s political landscape.

 

The AAP leaders like the Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and MP Sanjay Singh have hit back at Maken, accusing him of doing the BJP’s bidding. That is the most convenient charge the AAP leaders can hurl at the Congress leaders. But the fact is that if the Congress has to revive itself in Delhi, it cannot afford to play second fiddle to the AAP.

 

Like Maken admitted during Wednesday’s press conference that it was a greatest blunder by the party to support the AAP for 40 days in 2013, which was repeated during the parliamentary elections, the AAP has actually catapulted to power at the cost of the Congress. The party will need to take an independent stance opposed to both the BJP as well as the Congress.

 

In Delhi, however, the Congress will need to take an aggressive stance primarily against the AAP since the party has been ruling in the national capital for the last eleven years. The BJP indeed has stakes in governance in the national capital, since current elections are for the state government, the Congress’ main target will obviously be AAP.

 

There is another reason for the AAP to target and tame the Congress. A stronger Congress will be more at the cost of the AAP than the BJP. If the fight in Delhi gets triangular in real terms, the AAP is likely to suffer maximum damage. Whether that will lead to its electoral losses also, is a different story.

 

It is not only in Delhi, the AAP is pitched against the Congress in Punjab also, where it is in power since 2022. In Punjab also, the Congress is on the comeback and will be the main challenger to the AAP in the 2027 elections. Any concessions the Congress will provide to AAP in Delhi will have a directly adverse impact for its prospects in Punjab.

 

Maken is one of the senior most leaders of the Congress holding the prestigious and powerful position of the party treasurer. He has represented the New Delhi parliamentary constituency, served as a union minister and is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha. He knows Delhi like the back of his palm. Whatever line he has taken, it must be well thought and well aimed.

 

The stand Maken has taken, the Congress should have taken long back, not just about the AAP but also vis-à-vis other regional parties as well. The INDIA arrangement was for the parliamentary elections only and not for the assembly elections. The Congress is within its right to target its electoral opponents.

 

By seeking action against Maken, the AAP leaders have breached their brief. The AAP obviously cannot dictate what the Congress leaders should say and not say. And above all demanding action against Maken is asking for too much.

 

AAP’s worry is that the Congress has started making inroads in the national capital in its bastions, particularly amongst the Muslim and the Dalit sections, both of which have supported the AAP during the last two assembly elections. The AAP has realized that its support base among these sections is eroding and shifting towards the Congress.

 

By threatening to seek Congress’ expulsion from the INDIA bloc, the AAP  has again asked for two much. Imagine a party with just three Lok Sabha MPs is threatening to get a party with 99 Lok Sabha MPs expelled from the alliance. This demand will not hold much ground. Eventually, the AAP may itself quit the INDIA bloc.

 

Maken’s aggressive stance against the AAP has been widely appreciated and supported by the Congress leaders in Punjab. Senior Punjab leaders confided in private that the party should not extend any space to the AAP at any cost. They said the AAP was trying to blackmail the INDIA bloc by threatening its unity. They said, even if that happens, Congress should better watch and guard its own interest than that of the INDIA bloc.

 

Stronger the Congress emerges, the better its position will be within the INDIA bloc. Otherwise, smaller parties with negligible number of MPs can threaten and intimidate the alliance as a whole, a senior Punjab Congress leader observed, while adding, today they have the audacity to threaten the Congress and tomorrow they can try to intimidate anyone and everyone.

 

Even if the Congress’ aggressive stance against the AAP helps the BJP in any way, that will be in the long term interest of the party (the Congress). The Congress can no longer put its own survival at stake just to “keep the BJP out of power”. For the Congress, whether it is the AAP or the BJP in power, it is the same thing.

 

In Ajay Maken’s stand, the party appears to have not only taken a pragmatic line, but something where its own party interest remains paramount even if it means BJP winning the elections. Congress cannot keep on sacrificing itself, while the benefit is reaped by others.

 

The party has tried and done enough to keep the BJP out of power but it has paid a heavy price in the bargain, while others have gained. Irrespective of who benefits and who does not, the Congress should start strategizing while keeping its own interest in mind. Everything else is secondary. In the process of opting for lesser evils and lesser enemies, the Congress has only ended up in creating more evils and more enemies, at its own cost.