The political scene in Delhi is undergoing a metamorphosis if the resignation of Lalit Maken from the presidentship of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and that of H S Phoolka from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is anything to go by. Maken was a steadfast critic of the AAP government in the national capital consistently while Phoolka was a trenchant crusader against the Congress party for the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 in the wake of the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi by a Sikh bodyguard of hers.
the Congress moving closer to AAP in a projected opportunistic alliance their continuance in their positions would have been difficult and in fact seemingly untenable. While Maken would apparently be making way for a leader more acceptable to AAP in the light of the likely alliance, Phoolka had been tenaciously fighting the legal battle for the anti-Sikh riot victims and his embracing an alliance with the Congress would have detracted from his credibility which he could ill afford as a lawyer.
It would indeed be naive to look upon the alliance between the strange bedfellows as the coming together of like-minded parties if it does come about. There has been no love lost between Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal so much so that the latter had refused to attend Opposition conclaves because of Congress animosity and indifference. Now, however, much as they may feign convergence they can fool some people for some time, not all the people all the time. Yet, the BJP will need to draw upon all its reserves to stave off the challenge.
