'AAP not an alternative, Cong will bounce back in 4-5 years'

The Congress today said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not be an alternative to it and the party is efficient enough to bounce back in the next four-five years' time.

"I do not think AAP can be an alternative to Congress as it is over a century-old national political party with policies and ideology," AICC spokesman Dr Ajay Kumar said when asked whether AAP had emerged as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP in the country. Describing the party's performance in the Delhi polls as "disappointing", Kumar said the party would introspect.

On the reasons behind AAP's landslide victory, Kumar said the AAP leadership was on the ground and succeeded to consolidate its position before the elections. "Our traditional voters have voted for AAP after the pre-poll surveys predicted victory for the Arvind Kerjriwal-headed party," he said.

Addressing a press conference here, Kumar claimed Congress has been discharging its responsibility as a strong opposition in several states including Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan and was capable enough to bounce back to power in next four-five years time. "We don't have a dearth in leadership, but need to shun the tendency of drawing-room politics and reach out to people in remote areas," he said.

Kumar said Congress would soon chalk out its future strategy to strengthen the organisation and regain lost grounds and did not rule out the possibility of a restructure in the party in next month's AICC session. Accusing the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Kumar said the focus of the government was only on one per cent affluent class of the society and it did not bother about the middle-class, poor and the downtrodden. "The Centre has curtailed budget on projects like MGNREGA, but did not cut prices of petrol to the level compared to other countries including Pakistan, even though prices of crude oil at international market has dropped," he alleged. Commenting on the six Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) MLAs switching over to BJP, Kumar said it was wrong and such things were being engineered by the ruling party. "The government is indulging in horse-trading and also promoting corruption in Jharkhand, which is dangerous for the country's democratic fabric," the Congress leader added.