AAP still open to alliance with Congress in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh: Sisodia
New Delhi: AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Saturday said his party is still ready to form an alliance with the Congress in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh but it would not agree for a tie-up just in the national capital.
He said the priority of the Aam Aadmi Party is to stop the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo which, he said, is proving to become very "dangerous" for the country.
"We wanted to form a united opposition against the BJP and were ready to ignore our differences because right now the priority is to stop the dangerous Modi-Shah duo," he said.
"In last one week, meetings were held between the AAP and the Congress and we proposed alliance on 33 seats in Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab seats, out of them 23 seats is with NDA.
He said a tie-up between the two parties could have caused a "damage" to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on the 23 seats.
"But the Congress purposely wasted time to take a decision on alliance and now it says it can tie up with the AAP only in Delhi. Forming an alliance in Delhi alone would not solve the problem," he said.
"We still saying that an alliance can be formed (with Congress) in Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh if they are ready then we are ready too but alliance cannot be done alone in Delhi," he added.
The uncertainty over alliance between the AAP and the Congress has been continuing for weeks now. The talks between the two sides derailed after they failed to reach an agreement over seat-sharing in Delhi and Haryana.
Congress' in-charge for Delhi P C Chacko on Friday said Congress will go alone in Delhi since the AAP has taken an "impractical stand".
He, however said,"We are still ready (for alliance) if AAP is willing to have an alliance in Delhi alone. We want to fight the BJP together."
"We are compelled to go on our own as the AAP is going back on its stand," Chacko told reporters.
AAP's Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh, who was holding alliance talks with the Congress, said, "Our sincerity to stop the BJP in Haryana is reflected by the fact that we became a junior partner to a four-month-old party (JJP) and agreed to contest only less than half of the seats in the state."
Singh said the AAP was eager for an alliance with the Congress in Haryana so that the BJP could be defeated on all the 10 seats.
"That's why we were prepared to give Congress three seats in Delhi. But they refused an alliance," he said.
Singh exuded confidence that the AAP will win all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi on its own.
However, sources said the AAP in a last-ditch attempt may offer a 5-2 seat sharing formula to the Congress in Delhi.
Earlier, the AAP was ready to give three seats to the Congress in Delhi but now it might consider giving it just two seats, the sources added.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
