The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday ruled out any alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and announced that it will field its candidates in all parliamentary constituencies in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
AAP’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai, while making the announcement at a press conference, said that the idea of an alliance between the AAP and the Congress to “counter the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo” was a “suggestion made by other parties”.
Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit categorically denied even the possibility of talks of an alliance with the AAP. “No, there have not been any talks and nor are there going to be any talks of an alliance with the AAP in Delhi,” she told
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The BJP, on its part, argued that this “failed association” between the two parties was indicative of the fate of “all anti-Modi alliances across the country”.
‘Other leaders’ advice’
Mr. Rai said the AAP-Congress alliance was a suggestion made by “like-minded leaders”. “Farooq Abdullah, M.K. Stalin, Chandrababu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee among others stressed that despite disagreements with the Congress, we should fight the elections together in the interest of the country,” he said. “However, due to the arrogance which the Congress is still steeped in and the statements being made by Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit, the AAP has decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana on its own,” Mr. Rai said.
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The AAP, he added, will announce its candidates “soon” and will start its campaign from a rally in Barnala in Punjab on January 20, in the presence of its national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said the “failed alliance had exposed the AAP”. “This failed alliance has exposed the fact that the AAP was, is and will always remain just a Delhi party till it survives. All these alliances against the Modi government will see a similar fate in the days to come,” he said.