RS Dy Chairman polls, support if Rahul talks to Kejri

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday threw a spanner in Opposition plans to drum up numbers for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman polls, saying they will vote for Congress nominee BK Hariprasad only if Rahul Gandhi speaks to Arvind Kejriwal seeking support.

The condition was put forward by AAP Political Affairs Committee member and Rajya Sabha floor leader Sanjay Singh soon after Hariprasad filed his nomination papers. AAP has 3 MPs in Rajya Sabha and with this Opposition could gather 117 votes.

"Congress party takes AAP for granted. If Rahul Gandhi asks AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for party's vote then we will support them, else we are not interested in voting in their support," Singh said.

Hariprasad was fielded as joint Opposition candidate after NCP and DMK refused to field Vandana Chavan and Tiruchi Siva respectively.

AAP and Congress are at loggerheads in Delhi. Senior Congress leaders have refused overtures from AAP for an alliance and had even excluded the Kejriwal-led party from joint Opposition programmes earlier.

However, AAP was part of deliberations on the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman elections.