Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh met Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter’s house on Sunday and discussed the alleged “misuse of central investigative agencies against opposition parties” and the treatment of Delhi chief minister in jail. Singh said that he has proposed that a “common minimum programme” should be taken up by the INDIA bloc ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
Singh was released from Delhi’s Tihar jail on April 3 after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case. Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia have also been arrested in the same case and are currently lodged in Tihar jail. The Supreme Court is likely to hear Kejriwal’s plea on Monday.
After the meeting concluded, Singh said that Kharge is the leader of the opposition and encourages MPs to visit his house. “After being released from jail, I had to meet him and seek his blessings for the upcoming struggle. We also presented the proposal of issuing a Common Minimum Programme of the INDIA bloc.”
Singh added that his party’s suggestion is that the people should be aware of the major issues that will be in the forefront if the government is formed by the INDIA bloc following the Lok Sabha elections. “We should also specify how these promises will be fulfilled in a time-bound manner,” he said.
He added that during the meeting, issues related to the alleged use of the central investigative agencies to imprison opposition leaders were brought up. “We have discussed how the Constitution and democracy are being targeted by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), how the opposition leaders are being singled out and put in jails, how the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation are being misused and how Kejriwal is being ill-treated in jail and being deprived of even his basic rights.”
Responding to the queries regarding the delay of the Congress in announcing its Delhi Lok Sabha candidates, Singh said that the Congress will decide its three candidates soon. The AAP and Congress are jointly fighting the elections in Delhi under the INDIA block. Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats, all of which were won by the BJP in 2014 elections.
In February, AAP announced its candidates on four seats — Somnath Bharti will be the candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Sahi Ram will contest from South Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Mahabal Mishra has been fielded from West Delhi and Kuldeep Kumar will fight from East Delhi. However, the Congress is yet to officially announce its candidates on the remaining three seats in the Capital.
HT reached out to BJP, but did not get any response to request for comment.
