'Gandhis Will Vote Jhadoo': 6 Reasons Why AAP-Congress Alliance is a Big Deal

It's the alliance of the oldest and the youngest national party in the country.

"The Gandhi family will now vote for Aam Aadmi Party," this was the first thing that many AAP supporters said as soon as the party's seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress was announced.

The New Delhi seat, where Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are voters, has been allocated to AAP under the seat-sharing arrangement. So, to vote for the Congress-led INDIA bloc, the Gandhi family will have to vote for an AAP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections.

This, of course, is only the symbolic aspect. This alliance is significant for a number of reasons.

1. The Biggest Ever Alliance by the Congress in Terms of States

The Congress and AAP have come together in the following states:

• Delhi: AAP 4, Congress 3

• Gujarat: Congress 24, AAP 2

• Haryana: Congress 9, AAP 1

• Goa: Congress to contest both seats

• Chandigarh: Congress to contest

This comes to 46 seats. Though in terms of seats it is a smaller alliance than the SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh, it is the largest alliance by the Congress in terms of number of states.

In the past, the Congress has had multi-state alliances mainly with the Left and NCP. But even in those cases, the number of states was lesser. Presently the Congress had pre-poll alliances with the Left in four states - Assam, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and West Bengal. However, it was a junior partner to the DMK and RJD in Tamil Nadu and Bihar respectively and to the Left in West Bengal.

2. India's Oldest and Youngest National Parties Come Together

The alliance between Congress and AAP also represents the coming together of the oldest and youngest national parties in the country. The Congress was founded a little less than 140 years ago, the AAP is just 12 and became a national party only in 2022-23.

Due to this, the two parties also represent contrasting workstyles. While in Congress, decision making often becomes cumbersome due to multiple competing interests, in AAP power is concentrated around Kejriwal.

3. The Optics

One aspect to look out for would be the optics. Will Kharge, Kejriwal and the Gandhis be seen campaigning together? How many joint rallies are we likely to see in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana and Chandigarh? Will the workers campaign together on the ground?

During the INDIA bloc meetings and the Parliament debates on issues like the GNCTD amendment, we saw a gread deal of coordination between the social media volunteers of both the parties in amplifying the Opposition's message.

It remains to be seen if leaders and ground workers also replicate this coordination during the campaign.

4. AAP Among the Few Non-BJP Success Stories in the Modi Era

At a time when the BJP juggernaut under Narendra Modi has led to a decline in several parties, such as the Congress, SP, BSP and the Left, the AAP is one of the few parties that has grown in this period.

From a political startup concentrated in Delhi, AAP is now the ruling party in two states - Delhi and Punjab and a state party in Gujarat and Goa.

It also now has its own mayor in Chandigarh, with the Congress' help and has presence in civic bodies in Haryana.

It would be interesting to see whether a pre-poll alliance with the Congress further strengthens AAP or whether it undermines its claims of being an alternative to the traditional parties.

5. Kharge-Kejriwal Chemistry

At the heart of the Congress-AAP alliance is the personal chemsitry between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his AAP counterpart Arvind Kejriwal. An important role was also played by leaders like Mukul Wasnik, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak.

When AAP had initially asked for the Congress for space in Haryana, Gujarat and Goa in return for a more equitable deal in Delhi, many in the Congress had dismissed it.

However, eventually, the Congress did concede an opening to AAP in Haryana and Gujarat, in return for a 4:3 deal in Delhi and support in Goa and Chandigarh. In Chandigarh, it is also a case of quid pro quo as the Congress helped the AAP bag the mayor position.

When it seemed that alliance may not work out, Kharge is said to have pushed it through in the Congress. It needs to be remembered that Kejriwal was one of the INDIA bloc leaders most supportive of declaring Kharge as the PM candidate.

6. Short-Term Allies, Long Term Competitors

In all probability, the alliance is for the Lok Sabha elections alone and it is unlikely to extend to the future. Ideologically, Congress and AAP are broadly centrist, with the former tilting slightly to the Left and the latter slightly to the Right. This difference is an academic one because AAP's base in Delhi is almost identical to the Congress' erstwhile base under Sheila Dikshit - with considerable dependence on poorer voters, Dalits and minorities.

In the 2022 Gujarat elections, it mostly capitalised on the anti-BJP sections within Adivasis and Patidars which were with the Congress in 2017.

In Goa, too, AAP competes with the Congress in the anti-BJP space and made inroads in South Goa where the Congress is also strong.

In Punjab, however, it harmed the Akali Dal more in 2017 and the Congress and Akalis equally in 2022.

Presently, AAP and Congress are the two main 'rainbow coalition' parties in Punjab, getting votes from all sections.

The point here is that since the base of the two parties is similar in most states, any gains that AAP makes would be at the Congress' expense and any revival in the Congress will harm AAP.

Having said that, the Congress has in the past made alliances with parties that eroded its base in a state, - DMK, RJD, SP, NCP just to name a few.

There may still be scope for future collaboration between Congress and AAP in states where BJP has become dominant and there is a need to unite all anti-BJP forces to even have a chance of defeating the party. Gujarat and Goa are good examples of this.