Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 1: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as expected has decided to go alone in the elections to the Delhi Assembly shutting out all probabilities of having electoral alliance with the Congress.
“There will be no alliance in Delhi,” former Delhi Chief Minister and the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference in the city on Sunday. 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 but was expected as the two parties were not in best of the relations since the Haryana Assembly elections a couple of months ago.
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.
Mr 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.
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. Mr 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.
Soon after Kejriwal’s major announcement, the BJP 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.
A day after an unsettling attack during a public rally in Delhi, Mr Kejriwal voiced his dismay, asking, “What was my fault?” The incident, which occurred during a public rally in Malviya Nagar, saw a man splash liquid on Mr Kejriwal on Saturday. Mr Kejriwal targeted the Centre, particularly Home Minister Amit Shah, over the law and order situation in the national capital.
“I had this expectation that Amit Shah will take some action after I raised the issue (law & order). But, instead of that, I was being attacked during my padyatra. Liquid was thrown at me, it was harmless, but it could have been harmful,” Mr Kejriwal said. The AAP chief linked the attack to issues of governance, questioning the state of law and order in the capital. “We were only raising issues of public safety and crime. If you can, arrest the gangsters; why target us instead?” he asked.
The incident, which AAP claims was an attempt to set Mr Kejriwal on fire, unfolded as he shook hands with supporters during his rally. According to Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, the attacker had both a matchbox and a liquid that smelled like spirit.
“A man threw spirit on him. We could smell it, and there was an attempt to burn him alive,” Mr Bharadwaj alleged, adding that alert volunteers thwarted what could have been a disastrous situation. Mr Bharadwaj also accused the attacker of being linked to the BJP.
The BJP was quick to refute AAP’s allegations, calling the incident a “publicity stunt.” Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva dismissed AAP’s claims, suggesting the episode was orchestrated to garner sympathy. “Delhiites are asking why such incidents happen only with him,” Mr Sachdeva said.
The accused, identified as Ashok Jha, a 41-year-old bus marshal employed by the Delhi Transport Corporation, has been detained. The Delhi Police, which comes under the Union Home Ministry, stated that Jha had acted out of frustration over not receiving his salary for six months.
During interrogation, Jha allegedly claimed that he had donated to AAP during its formation but was disillusioned by what he called “fake promises.” According to police, the liquid was water, not spirit, as AAP alleged.