Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'What is AAP trying?' that was published in Newsband

What is AAP trying?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wants to defeat the BJP and therefore wants to make an alliance with the Congress. But his AAP will have alliance with Congress if and only if it covers Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh. If the Congress does not concede seats in Haryana and Chandigarh, AAP’s second choice is to go for a triangular contest in Delhi, which will certainly benefit the BJP.

AAP’s position that a Congress-JJP-AAP alliance in Haryana will wipe out the BJP may well be true. The RJD and the Congress have an alliance in Bihar and Jharkhand. There is SP-BSP-RLD alliance in UP. All these alliances are to put up the best possible fight against the BJP. The very logic of alliance is that you make it where and when it is possible.

AAP cares more about the Assembly election than seven Lok Sabha seats. If Kejriwal wants a second term, he needs to consolidate all non-BJP votes. By making a lot of noise about forming a common front against the BJP he is building an argument that it is the Congress, and not AAP, that did not let the coalition form.

AAP voter base in Delhi was carved out of Congress support base. AAP has little support in BJP’s committed base. And AAP came into existence on anti-Congress plank. AAP’s support base remains anti-Congress. Arvind Kejriwal is unable to get his supporters to agree to Congress alliance in Delhi without showing gains elsewhere. In a sense, this is payback time for Arvind Kejriwal for his virulent anti-Congress postures in 2013.

India and its concerned voters are not the slaves of any political parties, so when question comes of safety of the  country and its constitution, without a word the political parties should join hands to defeat anti-humanity, anti-country and anti-constitution

AAP and Congress should arrive at an understanding in Delhi on the basis of their strength in different pockets of Delhi. Why is AAP trying to ride on the Congress’ shoulder in other states? It is obviously because Congress is a very old party and has a footprint all over India, and hence AAP wants readymade foothold all over India.

Lastly, if the objective of a party is "to weaken the BJP", instead of serving the people, contributing to their welfare and taking them on the road to progress, one wonders why anyone would vote for them, or the parties that are trying desperately to form alliances with them.