TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha to campaign for AAP ahead of Delhi Assembly polls

Trinamool Congress MP Shatrughan Sinha will campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi ahead of the February 5 Assembly polls, party sources said on Tuesday.

According to a highly placed source, Sinha, the TMC MP from Asansol, will canvass for the AAP in at least three constituencies on February 1 and 2. These include former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's New Delhi constituency, Chief Minister Atishi's Kalkaji constituency, and Manish Sisodia's Jangpura constituency.

The TMC believes that the actor-turned-politician, who hails from Bihar, could mobilise Delhi's 'Purvanchali' voters, a term referring to migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The Purvanchalis are an influential voter base in the city.

The source added that "one or two more" TMC leaders may join the campaigning in Delhi.

The TMC had extended support to the AAP for the Delhi polls, where the BJP and the Congress are also in the fray making it a triangular contest.

The TMC and the AAP are part of the INDIA bloc which has the Congress as its largest party. A senior TMC leader said that the party would campaign not just against the BJP but also the Congress -- reflecting the widening rift within the opposition alliance.

"We have always said that in every state, the strongest party should take the lead," the TMC leader said.

No electoral alliance has been formed for the Assembly polls in the national capital. While the AAP and the Congress had a tie-up during last year's Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, the BJP bagged all seven seats.