Congress hopes for hung house to stay relevant

NEW DELHI: Reduced to the status of an also-ran in the Delhi elections, Congress is hinging its hopes on a hung a assembly. An internal party survey shows BJP and Aam Aadmi Party neck and neck, with the former having an edge over AAP. Congress’ election managers feel such a scenario would suit the party, which suffered its worst defeat in the 2013 assembly elections.

"We are hoping for a hung assembly as this would give us an year to re-energise our cadres and put our organisation in place," a senior Congress leader told ET. The internal survey, conducted before Kiran Bedi was named BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, gives 30 (-2) seats to BJP and 25 (+2) to AAP and a maximum of 15 seats to Congress. The survey shows that Congress might not be able to win all eight seats of 2013 but improve its tally, especially in reserved seats and Muslim-dominated constituencies.

The newly-formed AAP had made a serious dent in Congress’ traditional votebanks like Dalits and Muslims in 2013 and last year’s Lok Sabha elections. Congress is now working to regain lost ground. "But we would need another year to bring back our cadre.

There is a serious disconnect between the party and its voters now. If there is a hung assembly it would suit us," said the leader categorically denying there would be any outside support to AAP government. Former chief minister Sheila Dikshit had hinted at the possibility of supporting an AAP government in case of a hung assembly.

"There is no question of such a move. If we do this in case of a hung assembly, it would be the end of Congress in Delhi," said the leader.

Congress VP Rahul Gandhi is now micromanaging the elections with the help of his team and party in-charge PC Chacko and Arvinder Lovely. Congress is actively wooing Valmikis, a community that was successfully weaned away by AAP, especially with the party symbol of a broom. A Valmiki Task force has been formed, which has completed three rounds of door-to-door campaigning in all Valmiki settlement areas of Delhi. This task force is armed with pamphlets to tell voters that Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has not delivered on its promises.