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Kejriwal: AAP to contest alone in Bihar, Gujarat

When Congress failed, the BJP even reprimanded them. The INDIA bloc was only for the Lok Sabha polls. Now there is no alliance from our side," said Kejriwal

Ahmedabad: After Haryana and Delhi Assembly polls, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP yet again snubbed the INDIA bloc. On Thursday, Mr Kejriwal announced that the AAP will contest the upcoming Bihar and later the Gujarat elections independently, reaffirming the party's decision to go solo and signalling that the ongoing friction within the Opposition alliance is far from over.

The AAP's national convener clarified that the AAP will contest the Bihar Assembly elections without any alliance, asserting the INDIA bloc tie-up was limited to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and holds no ground now.

Addressing a press conference in Gujarat, the former Delhi chief minister said, "We will contest the upcoming Bihar elections. There is no alliance with the Congress. That is why we contested separately in the Visavadar bypolls. The INDIA bloc was only for the general elections. There is no alliance now."

Mr Kejriwal, who is in Gujarat to strengthen the party, accused the Congress of helping the ruling BJP in Gujarat.

“We have no alliance with the Congress. If there was any alliance, why did they contest the bypolls in Visavadar? They came to defeat us. The BJP had sent the Congress to defeat the AAP by cutting our votes. When the Congress failed, the BJP even reprimanded them. The INDIA bloc was only for the Lok Sabha polls. Now there is no alliance from our side,” said Mr Kejriwal.

The AAP chief said the party will contest the 2027 Gujarat Assembly elections and emerge victorious as the people of the state now have an option other than the BJP and the Congress.

Mr Kejriwal claimed that the BJP has ruined Gujarat in its 30-year rule. The Congress has failed as an Opposition because it helps the BJP retain power, he said.

“People used to say that 'we want to defeat the BJP, but whom should we vote for? Everyone knows that the Congress is in their pocket. In a way, a contract has been given to the Congress to help the BJP win every election. And Congress does its work very well,” he said.

Mr Kejriwal's renewed push for expansion came weeks after the AAP candidates won the Visavadar and Ludhiana Assembly seats in Gujarat and Punjab, respectively. A small but symbolic victory that was a shot in the arm for the party still reeling from setbacks in its home turf, Delhi.

The move is in the offing in the backdrop of the AAP losing its bastion "Delhi" in the 2025 polls to the BJP after ruling it for three consecutive terms. The party's top leaders, including Mr Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, lost from their constituencies.

"From today, we are starting Gujarat Jodo Abhiyan, under which people can join the AAP by giving a missed call to our number. I appeal to the youths, who want a corruption-free Gujarat, to join us in large numbers,” he added.

In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 162 MLAs, the Congress 12 and the AAP 5. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party, two legislators are Independents.


( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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