Arch rivals AAP, Cong attend joint oppn meet to take on BJP

Delhi's ruling AAP joined bitter rival Congress and other opposition parties for a joint meeting to forge a united anti-BJP front for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attended the meeting with his party MP Sanjay Singh.

The meeting assumes significance because the Congress has snubbed the AAP in the past. The grand old party has also resisted moves by others, like the TMC, to bring the AAP under the umbrella of a joint opposition.

A senior leader who attended the meeting claimed that the Congress dropped a "crucial hint" that it will remain "flexible" to pave way for opposition unity before the parliamentary elections next year.

"This could be a sign of thaw in AAP and Congress relations as the two sides are learnt to be angling for some sort of alliance in Delhi, although they have publicly denied it," he said.

Any agreement over seat sharing between the AAP and the Congress in Delhi will pose a tough challenge to the BJP which currently holds all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital.

Kejriwal also met Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M K Stalin, who was accompanied by party leaders Kanimozhi and A Raja.

In February this year, at the launch of Kamal Haasan's political party, Kejriwal had appealed to the people to vote for the actor-politician and had termed the DMK and the AIADMK as corrupt parties.

Stalin had asked Kejriwal to drop his "resistance" against the Congress and come together to strengthen opposition unity to dislodge the BJP-led government at the Centre, sources said.

The meeting was also attended by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. Earlier, the NCP too was averse to having the AAP on board.

An anti-graft movement was led by social activist Anna Hazare against the previous Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and in Delhi. Kejriwal was a leading figure of the movement.