Kejriwal says no to alliance for Delhi polls, a setback to INDIA bloc
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New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday has given a jot to INDIA bloc, declaring that AAP will go solo in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls.
Arvind Kejriwal was taking questions from media when he said ‘AAP will have no alliance for assembly polls in Delhi’, dismissing the possibility of INDIA bloc taking on the BJP together, India Today reported.
As elections are expected early next year, Delhi is now a beehive of political activities including high-profiling defections with several Congress and BJP leaders crossing over to the AAP, according to the report.
The AAP leadership views the polls as a feedback on its governance over the past five years, while the BJP is looking forward to come to power, expanding its base in the state.
Kejriwal’s announcement today to contest the polls on its own suggests a potential rupture in the unity of the INDIA bloc, a coalition of 26 opposition parties that hope to consolidate votes against the BJP.
However, the AAP and the Congress, being part of INDIA bloc, took on the BJP together in the Lok Sabha polls but ended up drawing a blank as the BJP swept away all the seats in the state.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Kejriwal decided to go solo in all 13 seats in Punjab ruling out any ties with the Congress; similarly both parties did not reach a seat-sharing agreement in Haryana assembly election either.
The AAP, which currently holds 62 seats in the 70-member of the state legislature, brought out the first list of 11 candidates for the assembly polls.
The six of the candidates in the list are leaders who switched sides from the BJP and Congress.
