Reiterating his earlier statement that a vote for the Congress would benefit the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, Aam Aadmi Party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked party workers to take that message to Delhiites.
Speaking to AAP office-bearers from the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency at a meeting on Thursday night, Mr. Kejriwal said that the AAP would fulfil its responsibility of “defeating” the BJP in the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, according to an AAP statement on Friday.
As part of the party’s preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the AAP chief will be taking meetings with the office-bearers for the seven constituencies till January 16, with the first one being Thursday’s meeting.
Along with the AAP Delhi convenor, the party’s South Delhi in-charge and potential candidate Raghav Chadha was also present during the meeting at Mr. Kejriwal’s residence.
Do the math
Mr. Kejriwal asked party workers to explain to voters the arithmetic at play — if the votes between the AAP and the Congress are split, it will lead to victory for the BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP swept all seven seats, the BJP had got 46% of the voteshare, while the AAP got 33% and the Congress 15%, he said.
Mr. Kejriwal said that surveys had shown that the BJP’s voteshare would go down by 10%, so AAP workers should tell Delhiites that the AAP will win all seven seats by getting 43% of the votes. “You have to explain to people that voting for the Congress means a victory for the BJP,” he said. His statement comes in the wake of speculation of an alliance between the AAP and the Congress.
