Ally Shiv Sena (UBT) lambasts Congress for breakdown of alliance with AAP

New Delhi: The Shiv Sena of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has held the Congress responsible for the breakdown of alliance talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in both Haryana and Delhi. 

Quoting a conversation between Aditya Thackeray and Arvind Kejriwal during their recent meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut wrote in the party mouthpiece, 'Saamana', that the Congress was not in favor of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and thus created roadblocks for the AAP's return to power in Delhi. Rather, the Congress wanted to defeat the anti-Narendra Modi, Kejriwal.

Kejriwal narrated the sequence of events to Aditya Thackeray. 

Kejriwal said, "When I was in jail, Haryana elections were held. Raghav Chadha (AAP) was looking after the work in Haryana. He came to meet me in jail. I told him, we must form an alliance with Congress. You decide on the seat sharing. 

“The Congress asked us for a list. We gave them a list of 14 seats. Rahul Gandhi told Raghav that we would give six seats to AAP. I told Raghav, no problem, take six seats. We took two steps back. 

“Rahul Gandhi then told Raghav to meet KC Venugopal. He will finalize the seat-sharing. Raghav then met Venugopal, who insisted that leaving six seats for AAP was not possible and instead offered four. He also told Raghav to meet the then Haryana in-charge Dipak Babaria. 

“Raghav came to meet me in jail. I told him it was fine and asked him to take four seats. Later, when Raghav met Babaria, he declined to leave four seats and offered only two seats. I again told Raghav to take two seats. 

“Despite being the boss of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi failed to keep his promise. Raghav finally met Bhupendra Hooda for those two seats, which were offered to us in constituencies considered BJP strongholds.

“This is Congress's definition of coalition dharma. This happened in Haryana. It was no different in Delhi. They did not want to defeat BJP. They wanted to defeat the anti-Modi Kejriwal."

Raut wrote that Kejriwal's anguish was clearly visible on his face while narrating all this. "Maharashtra too witnessed the same thing. It is equally true that the Congress' last-minute mess in seat-distribution in Maharashtra was incomprehensible," he added.

“The Congress defeated AAP candidates in 14 seats. These include Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. The Congress could not win a single seat but played a role in bringing BJP to power. Victories in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi have increased the morale and confidence of Modi and his people," Raut said.

He further wrote that the defeat of AAP in Delhi is the death of a dream. Kejriwal and his people first took to the streets and then into politics with the dream of idealism, morality, and corruption-free governance. Kejriwal and his people came with the dream of clean, honest politics. They ruled the country's capital for ten years. Their dream too was finally tarnished by allegations of corruption, and now the BJP has defeated that dream. Who is responsible for this? 

The people gave them immense support, and now, embroiled in allegations of corruption, chaos, and fraud, the same Delhi that took Kejriwal and his people on its shoulders threw them away. What can we say about this?

"For the BJP, the exile is over. After almost 27 years of political exile, the BJP returned to power in Delhi. The victory in Delhi after wins in Haryana and Maharashtra are not good for the eroding democratic values of the country. The one-sided victory in Delhi has upset the balance of democracy. It also raised a question mark over the INDIA bloc, which challenged Modi's arbitrary rule in the Lok Sabha."

 This downfall is in the BJP's interest, and the country will have to bear its consequences in the future, according to Raut.