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The Aam Aadmi Party had contested the Haryana Assembly Elections on its own earlier this year.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal (PTI Image)
Delhi Assembly Elections: Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday ruled out any alliance with Congress for the 2025 Assembly Elections in the national capital. The move comes as a major jolt to the Opposition’s INDIA bloc which was formed aiming to oust the BJP from power at the Centre.
“There will be no alliance in Delhi,” Kejriwal said at a press conference in the city.
The announcement came in continuation with the AAP’s move in the Haryana Assembly polls in October this year in which the party had ditched the INDIA bloc and contested the polls on its own. The AAP and Congress had attempted to forge an alliance in Haryana, however, the seat-sharing talks did not yield any conclusion.
Kejriwal’s decision also comes on the back of major poll drubbing of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra this month, which Congress is also a part of, drawing criticism from its allies.
Congress-AAP Alliance In Lok Sabha Polls
The Congress and AAP had contested the Lok Sabha Elections this year in Delhi in alliance with each other under the umbrella of the INDIA bloc. Both parties had even campaigned for each other. Kejriwal, who was then out on interim bail for the election campaigning, had also campaigned for the Congress and had sought votes for its Opposition party (in the Delhi Assembly).
AAP had contested on 4 seats while Congress on 3 seats out of 7 parliamentary constituencies in Delhi. However, neither of the two parties could open the account as the BJP swept all 7 seats in the city.
However, in contrast to Delhi, the AAP had contested all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab on its own, ditching the Congress in the state. The AAP is in power in Punjab with a huge majority. In 2022 Assembly polls in Punjab, the Kejriwal-led party had swept the state winning 92 out of the 117 seats, dislodging Congress from power.
BJP Reacts To AAP’s Announcement
Soon after Kejriwal’s major announcement, the Bharatiya Janata Party took a “friendship with benefits” jibe at the AAP and Congress and underlined the loopholes in the Opposition unity in the state and at the national level.
“In the Lok Sabha Elections, their relation was “Hum sath sath hain (we are together)”. Today, that relation has changed to “Hum aapke hain kaun (who am I to you?)”. There is no mission or vision in the INDIA bloc, they only have a thirst for position and obsession for Modi,” BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.
“They fight in the states and show unity in Delhi. This is the same situation of the INDIA bloc everywhere, but they show friendship in Delhi. They have a system of friendship with benefits,” he added.
