The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has ruled out any alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections following Congress’s poor performance in Haryana. AAP’s chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar attributed the Congress’s “overconfidence” as the main reason for its failure to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from securing another term.
Kakkar told India Today, “There will be no alliance with Congress in Delhi. Despite being given more seats in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi during the Lok Sabha polls, Congress did not accommodate the Samajwadi Party and AAP in Haryana.” The Delhi Assembly elections are scheduled for February next year, with AAP aiming for a third consecutive term.
Despite predictions of a Congress comeback in Haryana, the party managed to secure only 37 seats, while the BJP achieved its best-ever performance, winning 48 seats. AAP, contesting 88 of the 90 seats in Haryana, failed to win any seats after going alone following the collapse of seat-sharing talks.
On Tuesday, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal took a subtle swipe at Congress regarding their Haryana loss, stating, “The biggest lesson is never to be overconfident in elections.”
The relationship between AAP and Congress has remained rocky. During the Lok Sabha elections, both parties formed an alliance in Delhi and Haryana but contested separately in Punjab. However, their partnership failed to halt the BJP, which won all seven seats in Delhi.
With Congress’s defeat in Haryana and its lackluster performance in Jammu & Kashmir, the party may struggle to negotiate with its INDIA bloc partners in upcoming elections in Delhi and Maharashtra.
