Once again, chatter about Cong-AAP alliance in Delhi

Days after the Congress announced that it will go solo in Delhi, there is renewed speculation about a possible alliance with the Rahul Gandhi-led party and the AAP, after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi called Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit for a meeting here.

The meeting comes as there is pressure on Congress from other Opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress, the NCP and the TDP to join hands with Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in the Lok Sabha elections, where a triangular fight against the BJP could end up benefiting the saffron party.

There was no word on Sheila's meeting with Sonia, the former Congress chief, whom a section of pro-alliance leaders believe would tilt the balance in their favour.

Earlier this week, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had gone with the Delhi unit's opinion to not to align with the AAP following which Sheila made the announcement against the alliance as it side-stepped pressure from the Opposition.

While Sheila is not for a coalition, former Delhi chief Ajay Maken had a surprise change of mind to join hands with the AAP.

Sources said that AICC in-charge P C Chacko is also supporting the idea of a coalition and is learnt to have apprised Sonia on Friday about the situation in the national capital.

Senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel are also in favour of an alliance and the latter is in touch with AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, a key Kejriwal aide, on the issue for the past couple of months.

Several theories are doing the rounds about the possible number of seats both the parties would be contesting in case there is an alliance.

One of the formulae is that both the parties would contest three seats each and in the seventh seat they would support a common candidate like Yashwant Sinha.

While Rahul has not opened his mind on the coalition issue, both pro and anti-coalition camps claim that the Congress president is inclined to their line of thought.

Sources said that one of the stumbling blocks in the alliance was the AAP's insistence that the Congress should also enter into an alliance with them in Haryana and Punjab.

However, some Opposition leaders have advised the AAP not to club Delhi with Punjab and Haryana and jeopardise a possible deal.

They have argued that the AAP and the Congress fighting against each other in Delhi would send a wrong signal across the country over the Opposition unity, though the number of seats in the capital are very less.