AAP will go it alone in Delhi poll, says Kejriwal

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal today announced that his party would go solo in the coming Delhi Assembly elections, signalling a setback for the opposition INDIA bloc.

Kejriwal’s decision comes as the political landscape in Delhi gathers heat ahead of the elections, expected to be held early next year.

“There will be no alliance in Delhi,” Kejriwal said at a press conference, ruling out the possibility of a partnership with the Congress or other INDIA bloc partners for the Delhi poll. His statement comes just days after AAP released its first list of candidates for the poll.

The AAP announcement follows a series of high-profile defections, with several Congress and BJP leaders having joined the party in recent months.

The decision also marks a departure from previous attempts at collaboration between AAP and the Congress. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, both parties had fought together but failed to win any seats, while the BJP won all seven Delhi constituencies.

The two parties also engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Haryana Assembly elections in October, but the discussions ultimately fell through, and the BJP emerged victorious.

The AAP decision to contest the elections independently comes in the wake of Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav’s recent statement that his party would also contest the elections without going in for an alliance.

Yadav had stated that the Congress would not yet announce its chief ministerial candidate. He had claimed that Delhi residents were “very unhappy” with the governance of both AAP and the BJP.

In the previous Delhi Assembly elections held in 2015 and 2020, AAP had won 67 and 62 of the 70 seats, respectively, while the Congress failed to open its account.

With AAP and the Congress now heading into the elections as independent contenders, the stage is set for a three-way electoral battle.