Congress will again back AAP if needed: Dikshit (Lead)

New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The Congress was ready to support an AAP government again in the event of a hung assembly in the capital, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit said Thursday.

"It is logical that we would want a stable government, and if the need arises, the AAP will be our choice to keep communal forces at bay," Dikshit told IANS.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal was quick to react, saying "it means the Congress has already conceded and people should vote for the AAP instead of the Congress."

Congress' political in charge of Delhi P.C. Chacko described Dikshit's remarks as "her imagination which has nothing to do with the party".

"Whosoever has said that doesn't matter. There is no question of supporting the AAP," Chacko told IANS.

After winning just eight seats in the 2013 election that ended 15 years of its rule in Delhi, the Congress propped up a minority government of the AAP headed by Kejriwal.

Dikshit, a three-time chief minister, was defeated in New Delhi constituency by Kejriwal by nearly 26,000 votes.

Kejriwal resigned in February 2014 after just 49 days in office over the stalling of an anti-graft bill in the Delhi assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party had then finished as the single largest party but declined to form a government.

Former AAP minister Manish Sisodia told IANS that he did not expect the Congress to win even one of the 70 seats.

"In any case, we are confident of coming to power on our own," he said.

The assembly polls are likely to be held in February. Political parties have already started campaigning.