Arvind Kejriwal On Alliance With Congress

Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal meet in Delhi on Wednesday evening that decided on a pre-poll alliance to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP in the national election.

"We will have a pre-poll alliance to remove Modi. Pre-poll alliance so there is no difficulty afterwards," Ms Banerjee said after a 15-party meeting at NCP leader Sharad Pawar's Delhi home.

Rahul Gandhi's comment confirmed the lingering contradiction in states where his Congress party is a rival to both Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party. "We will compete with each other as well," Mr Gandhi said, indicating that his party is willing to go it alone in both states.

The three leaders are expected to work closely together despite their earlier differences, to form a united front against the BJP in the coming general elections

While AAP and Congress are known for their political rivalry, the opposition leaders are arguing that a lack of an alliance in Delhi is likely to harm the unity agenda.

The mega rally today was attended by leaders of 15 parties -- way below the 23 that had attended Ms Banerjee's January 19 rally in Kolkata. The other opposition leaders attending the meet include Mr Naidu and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah.

"In the coming days, we will fight unitedly. Whatever our fight with Congress and CPM, it will be in the state. At the national level, we will all fight together," Ms Banerjee said.