NEW DELHI: Her tough stand over the issue of an alliance with AAP is isolating Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit within the party. Days after the central leadership conducted a phone poll of its booth-level workers on whether the party should ally with AAP to stop BJP, a section of senior Delhi leaders who had accompanied Dikshit to a meeting with AICC president Rahul Gandhi and supported her stand have started speaking in favour of a tie-up.“We have spoken to the working presidents, former DPCC presidents and heads of the district units and many of them are in favour of an alliance with AAP. But a final call would be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi,” party in-charge of Delhi, P C Chacko, told TOI on Friday. Dikshit refused to comment.Others were not so quiet. Former DPCC president Subhash Chopra said he would “abide” by whatever decision the party unit takes to “prevent communal forces” from forming a government again. “The biggest challenge now is stop this vindictive and communally divisive government from returning to power. If our leadership decides that a particular arrangement can stop the communal forces, nobody will have any problem with that,” said Chopra, who held the post of DPCC chief when Diskhit was chief minister.Another former DPCC president, who didn’t wish to be named, said only a Congress-AAP alliance can prevent the non-BJP vote from splitting and stop the saffron party from winning all seven seats in Delhi. “Our leadership is of the view that defeating BJP and stopping Narendra Modi from becoming PM again should be the top priority right now and any decision taken to achieve this is acceptable to all of us.”Another former DPCC president, who too wished to remain anonymous, said it was important to support Dikshit at the meeting but the feedback from other senior party leaders and people on the ground forced them to think about the pros and cons of an alliance. He said several district committees were of the view that Congress alone cannot win in Delhi and favoured a pact.According to sources, of the 10 Delhi leaders who met Rahul last month, along with Chacko and AICC secretary Kuljit Singh Nagra, at least five have changed their views since then. Acting president Rajesh Lilothia, however, said there was no change in the party’s stand on the issue.“If we contest separately in the Lok Sabha elections and fair a poor third, it will be difficult for us to make a comeback in the Assembly elections,” said another ex-Delhi Congress chief.

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