Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shehzad Poonawalla strongly criticized the Congress and AAP alliance, labeling it a “friendship of selfishness.” Poonawalla’s remarks came after Delhi government minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai declared that there would be no collaboration between the two parties in the forthcoming Delhi assembly elections.
Rai, on Thursday, affirmed that the AAP would contest the Delhi assembly elections independently, without forming an alliance with the Congress. He stressed that the alliance between the two parties was limited to the Lok Sabha polls and would not extend to the state elections.
Poonawalla condemned Rai’s statement, pointing out the failure of the INDIA bloc, which failed to secure any of the seven seats in Delhi. “Gopal Rai has stated that following their (INDIA alliance) failure to win any of the seven seats in Delhi, there will be no alliance between the Congress party and AAP in the Assembly elections. This was merely a self-serving friendship. Now, they will engage in mutual criticism in Delhi as well. This reveals the true nature of the INDIA alliance,” Poonawalla stated on Thursday.
During the Lok Sabha polls in the national capital, both parties were unsuccessful, with the BJP securing all seven Lok Sabha seats. While AAP contested four seats, Congress fielded candidates for three seats.
AAP and Congress are part of the INDIA bloc. Although the two parties formed an alliance in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Punjab, and Gujarat, there was no alliance between them in Punjab. Congress secured seven seats in Punjab, while AAP, in power in the state, won three.
Assembly elections in Delhi are anticipated to take place in early 2025. In the 2020 Delhi assembly polls, Congress failed to secure any seats, while AAP won 62 out of the 70 seats, and BJP secured the remaining eight seats.
AAP’s announcement comes at a time when the newly elected Lok Sabha MPs have yet to take oath, and discussions are underway among the INDIA bloc partners to enhance coordination to challenge the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government.
Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the BJP secured all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi for the third consecutive time. In North-East Delhi, incumbent BJP MP Manoj Tiwari won by 1,38,778 votes against Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar. Praveen Khandelwal emerged victorious in Chandni Chowk against Congress’ Jaiprakash Agarwal with a margin of 89,325 votes. In East Delhi, Harsh Malhotra defeated Aam Aadmi Party’s Kuldeep Kumar with 93,663 votes.
Bansuri Swaraj from New Delhi defeated AAP’s Somnath Bharti with a margin of 78,370 votes. In North-West Delhi, Yogender Chandoliya won against Udit Raj of Congress with a margin of 2,90,849 votes. Ramvir Singh Bidhuri from South Delhi defeated AAP’s Sahi Ram with a margin of 1,24,333 votes, and Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi won against AAP’s Mahabal Mishra with a margin of 1,99,013 votes.
According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats, a decrease from its 2019 tally of 303. On the other hand, the Congress showed significant improvement, winning 99 seats. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance secured 292 seats, the INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, presenting strong competition and surpassing expectations.