New Delhi: Ruling out any alliance with Congress, Aam Aadmi Party has announced its decision to contest the upcoming Delhi elections independently. Emphasising its track record of defeating BJP in three consecutive polls, AAP expressed confidence in repeating the feat under its convener Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership.
Kejriwal posted on X: “Aam Aadmi Party will be fighting this election on its own strength in Delhi. There is no possibility of any alliance with Congress.”
AAP entered into an alliance with Congress during the Lok Sabha elections this year. As part of the alliance, AAP contested four of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and gave three to Congress. The alliance, however, lost all seven seats to BJP.
Earlier, in Delhi, AAP and Congress entered into a post-poll alliance in 2013 when AAP formed govt in the state with Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister. Congress offered “outside support”, but govt fell after 49 days. AAP stormed back to power in 2015 and 2020, winning 67 seats and 62 seats, respectively, of the total 70.
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh stated, “AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal has made it clear that there is no alliance happening with Congress in Delhi.” “AAP will contest the elections independently. In the last three elections, the party consistently defeated BJP decisively,” he added.
Another Rajya Sabha member from AAP, Raghav Chadha, said, “The upcoming Delhi elections will be fought by AAP based on its organisational strength and political capabilities. The question of any alliance does not arise at all. Reports suggesting a possible alliance between AAP and Congress are completely baseless.”
“AAP fought, won and formed govt and ran it successfully in the last three Delhi elections on its own strength,” he added.
Delhi Congress ruled out any alliance with AAP last month.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav said that Delhi Congress would contest the upcoming assembly elections alone, as “it was in a very strong position to win the elections and come back to power.” “Congress will not have any tie-up with the corrupt Kejriwal party for the assembly elections, as Congress paid a heavy price for aligning with AAP for the Lok Sabha elections,” he claimed.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva stated that there was a “fixed match” happening between Kejriwal and Congress regarding their alliance. “AAP and Congress parties know very well that whether they form an alliance or contest separately, defeat is inevitable. However, both parties are engaging in the game of showing each other as weak,” he alleged.
“People no longer trust Kejriwal’s announcements, especially after he formed a coalition govt and contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with Congress in the past,” he stated.
