Arvind Kejriwal with I.N.D.I Alliance partners Rahul Gandhi and Hemant Soren in old picture (Image Source: NDTV)
Aam Aadmi Party will contest the Delhi assembly elections on its own without alliance with Congress, party leader Gopal Rai said on Thursday, noting that the two parties had come together in the national capital only for Lok Sabha polls.
“This is clear from the very first day that the INDIA alliance was formed for Lok Sabha elections. As far as Vidhan Sabha is concerned, no alliance has been formed. AAP will fight elections with its full strength,” Rai, who is Delhi Minister for Environment, told ANI.
The two parties drew a blank in the Lok Sabha polls in the national capital with BJP winning all the seven Lok Sabha seats. While AAP contested four of seven seats, Congress put up candidates on three seats.
Rai had also told reporters that opposition parties had come together in the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls and there was no alliance for assembly polls.
“It is clear from the beginning that the INDIA alliance was formed for the Lok Sabha elections. We fought Lok Sabha elections together but in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections, there is no alliance. We will fight the Vidhan Sabha elections together with the people of Delhi,” he said.
AAP and Congress are part of the INDIA bloc. While the two parties had an alliance in Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Punjab and Gujarat, there was no alliance between the two in Punjab. Congress won seven seats in Punjab compared to three won by AAP which is in power in the state.
Assembly polls in Delhi are expected to be held in early 2025. Congress could not win a single seat in the Delhi assembly polls held in 2020. While AAP won 62 out of the 70 seats, BJP secured eighth seats in the last assembly polls.
The announcement by AAP comes even as the newly elected Lok Sabha MPs have not taken oath and talks are being held among the INDIA bloc partners for better coordination to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government.
(With inputs from ANI)
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