PC Chacko, who made desperate attempts to stitch an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the last year’s Lok Sabha polls, has left the party alleging a lack of democracy.
74-year-old Chacko, however, said that he had no intention to join the BJP ahead of the Kerala assembly polls, scheduled for 6 April. He told NDTV that he had no option but to sever ties with the Congress in the absence of democracy in the party.
According to news agency PTI, Chacko alleged that the party’s candidates for 6 April assembly polls in Kerala were being determined in an undemocratic way by two groups –A group headed by Oommen Chandy and I group headed by Ramesh Chennithala.
“This was the only option before me. I was not in the party for any position but I want job satisfaction. Being in a democratic party was my satisfaction. When our opinions are heard, when we are part of the decision-making, the satisfaction pushes us to work,” Chacko was quoted as saying.
Last year, Chacko, then in-charge of Delhi, had stunned everyone by revealing that most Congress leaders in the national capital were in favour of forging an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party for the Lok Sabha polls.
Chacko’s comments had come just days after Congress President Rahul Gandhi told his grass root workers in Delhi that they needed to ensure that his party won all seven seats in Delhi. This was widely viewed as a confirmation that both the Congress and the AAP will contest this year’s parliamentary polls separately. However, Chacko told Outlook, “Rahul Gandhi didn’t say that we are going alone in polls. He goes by working committee decisions.”