'Rahul Gandhi must not be...': AAP's fresh challenge to Cong, opposition unity

The stand of the Aam Aadmi Party on Opposition unity has been made clear: if the Congress does not protest the Delhi Ordinance in Parliament, AAP will not be a part of the Congress-led opposition. Now, the party has put forward a new condition as the party's national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said Congress should not project Rahul Gandhi as the leader for the third time.

"If the country is to be saved, then at first the Congress should announce that they will not bet on Rahul Gandhi for the third time and won't force the opposition. In the interest of the country, this is more crucial than saving the Constitution," the AAP leader said taking a veiled dig at Congress's of-quoted mission of saving the Constitution.

AAP's tough talk on a united opposition

AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh attended the June 23 mega meet of the opposition parties in Patna called by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The AAP leaders did not stay at the meeting for the joint statement and flew back to Delhi after lunch.

From Delhi, AAP issued a statement that any alliance with the Congress would be very difficult if the Congress does not support AAP on the Delhi Ordinance issue.

Kejriwal directly speaks with Rahul; Mamata asks them to end spat over tea, lunch

While Kejriwal spoke with Rahul Gandhi directly at the meeting urging him to forget the differences and move forward, Rahul Gandhi told him that there was a process to discuss the ordinance. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was present at the meeting, proposed that Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal should address the differences over tea or lunch.

B-team charge

At the meeting, reports said, Mallikarjun Kharge countered the allegations of the AAP and said AAP spokespersons had been levelling accusations against the Congress. This came as Priyanka Kakkar upped the attack and claimed Rahul Gandhi and the BJP have reached an agreement that the Congress will support the Delhi Ordinance.

Congress leader Ajay Maken cited Kejriwal's support for the abrogation of Article 370 and asked who the B team was.