
Before Arvind Kejriwal's ‘hidden romance' jibe, Punjab Congress called AAP BJP's ‘B Team'
Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) national convener
Arvind Kejriwal
recently alleged a secretive understanding between the Congress and the
BJP
in Gujarat — calling it a "hidden romance"—the Congress in Punjab has been bracketing AAP with RSS-BJP for over two years or accusing the Punjab chief minister of following the Centre's line on different issues.
Even as the parties held a seat-sharing arrangement in Delhi, Haryana, and Gujarat, Punjab Congress leaders usually called AAP the 'B team' of RSS-BJP. They sharpened the attacks before the Lok Sabha elections. Amid these allegations, they strongly opposed an alliance between the two parties in Punjab during the parliamentary polls, arguing that Congress could not cede opposition space to Shiromani Akali Dal or BJP.
Kejriwal, during a gathering of AAP leaders and workers in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, asserted that his party had no alliance with Congress, and that the INDIA bloc was confined to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He likened the Congress-BJP dynamic to lovers meeting in secret, saying, "They meet secretly because society won't accept their marriage. Be cautious of them—they are very dangerous."
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Friday slammed Kejriwal over his "hidden romance" jibe at the BJP, saying, "The entire country knows it was you, Kejriwal, who struck an 'unholy alliance' with Congress back in 2013 to form the Delhi govt.
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In Punjab, it's now an open secret — AAP and Congress have made a secret pact to rule alternately and loot Punjab every five years."
Punjab Congress leaders started levelling the allegation of collusion between AAP and RSS-BJP, or calling the former the 'B team' of the latter or 'two sides of the same coin', just after the Bhagwant Mann govt completed a year. Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Waring, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and Pargat Singh started the attacks on these lines, and then a few other party leaders followed suit.
Punjab Congress made it a point to accuse the Punjab govt of following the central govt's line over its handling of the farm protest, and its removal from the Shambhu border. On a few other issues, they levelled similar allegations. Recently, Waring, while addressing a rally at Hoshiarpur, alleged that the AAP govt in Punjab was hand in glove with the Centre.
At the same time, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has been alleging that a few leaders of Punjab Congress had surrendered before the AAP govt to escape action by anti-corruption agencies.
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