Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 8: In a major setback to the Congress, at least three members of the party-led opposition INDIA bloc have extended support to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi Assembly elections against the BJP where the Congress is also in the fray vying to return to power 10 years after it was ousted by the AAP.
Weakening the unity among the INDIA bloc ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday extended support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming polls, scheduled for February 5. TMC’s support came a day after Akhilesh Yadav offered support to AAP against the saffron camp in the national capital.
Even the former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena said it stood by the AAP in Delhi. Though the Sena has negligible base in Delhi, its stand would be a slap on the face of the Congress. Notably, the Congress and AAP are part of the INDIA bloc at the national level but they are contesting against each other in the Delhi polls. Congress is also contesting all 70 assembly seats in the national capital along with the AAP and the BJP and has been accused by the AAP of acting as the BJP – B team helping the saffron party to win the elections in the national capital.
In a post on X, Kejriwal said on the TMC’s support to his party, said he was “personally grateful” to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for extending her support to AAP. “TMC has announced support to AAP in Delhi elections. I am personally grateful to Mamata Didi. Thank you, Didi. You have always supported and blessed us in our good and bad times,” the former Delhi Chief Minister said. Minutes later, Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien responded to Kejriwal’s post, saying: “We have your back @AamAadmiParty.”
On Tuesday, soon after the Election Commission announced the dates for the Delhi Assembly election, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav offered his support to AAP following which Kejriwal extended his gratitude to Mr Yadav. “Thank you very much Akhilesh ji. You always support and stand with us. I and the people of Delhi are grateful for this,” Kejriwal wrote on X.
Following TMC’s support to AAP ahead of Delhi polls, speculations regarding a possible rift in the INDIA bloc are rife. It is speculated that Congress is under pressure to give the leadership of the opposition bloc to Mamata Banerjee.
While Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly expressed her interest in leading the INDIA bloc, NCP-SP’s Sharad Pawar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav have also backed the Trinamool chief as the leader of the opposition bloc deepening the Congress woes.
The elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are set to take place on February 5 and the votes for the same will be counted on February 8. The national capital will witness a triangular contest between the AAP, BJP and Congress.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party swept the 2015 and 2020 elections with 67 and 62 seats, respectively. On the other hand, the BJP was reduced to just single digits in the last two elections. Meanwhile, the Congress party, which once ruled Delhi for 15 years, will now be contesting the polls alone after having stitched an alliance with the AAP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Notably, this is not the first time that Akhilesh Yadav has extended support to AAP. Last month, Akhilesh Yadav joined Arvind Kejriwal at AAP’s ‘Mahila Adalat’ campaign in Delhi and had said the AAP should again get a chance to serve people in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said her party would go solo in the upcoming polls in the national capital. The BSP had contested all the 70 seats in Delhi in the 2020 Assembly election but failed to win any. However, the party secured a vote share of 0.71 per cent. The party contested all 70 seats in the capital in 2015, 2013 and 2008 as well.
The Trinamool and the Samajwadi Party had thrown their weight behind the AAP in the 2020 Delhi assembly elections as well.
Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal hit out at the Congress after its leader, Ashok Gehlot claimed that AAP leaders are delusional about its victory in the next month’s polls. “They are our opposition. It’s their misconception that just because they have won the previous two elections, they will repeat their performance this time. The Congress is campaigning well and we know that the results will be good this time,” Mr Gehlot said.
Hitting back, Mr Kejriwal said the Congress has made it clear that the “AAP is its opposition in Delhi.” “People also felt that AAP is the opposition for Congress and BJP is its partner. People also believed that BJP and Congress are fighting the elections together against AAP. Till now this cooperation between you two was secret. Today you have made it public. Thank you on behalf of the people of Delhi,” the AAP National Convenor wrote on X.
Both the AAP and the Congress have been locked in an intense battle, over various issues, for quite some time. The two parties had blamed one another for the poll debacle in the Capital during the parliamentary elections.
Last month, Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken’s remarks that a tie-up with the AAP during the Lok Sabha polls was a “mistake” further worsened relations between the allies. The AAP said it will ask other members of the INDIA bloc to remove the Congress from the alliance, if the latter does not act against Mr Maken for his remarks.
Meanwhile, the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday dubbed former BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s controversial reference to her cheeks as “ridiculous”, and said important issues should be discussed during the Delhi assembly polls instead of such irrelevant matters, the Wayanad MP told reporters in a jibe at the BJP’s candidate for the Kalkaji Delhi assembly seat as she left after attending a parliamentary panel meeting.
It is a “ridiculous remark”, she said, adding that “all this is irrelevant.” “Elections are taking place in Delhi. Important issues should be discussed,” she said. Mr Bidhuri had said he would make the roads of Kalkaji as smooth as Ms Gandhi’s cheeks if elected as an MLA. He is pitted against AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi. He, later, expressed regret over his remarks, which had triggered a row.