No alliance with Congress, INDIA bloc was only for Lok Sabha polls: Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal said that AAP would contest and win the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2027, claiming that voters in the state now have an alternative.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that his party has no alliance with the Congress, saying that the INDIA bloc was formed solely for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“The INDIA bloc was only for the Lok Sabha polls. Now there is no alliance from our side,” Kejriwal said at a press conference in Ahmedabad.
He further accused the Congress of indirectly aiding the BJP in Gujarat.
“We have no alliance with Congress. If there was any alliance, why did they contest the bypoll in Visavadar?” Kejriwal asked. “They came to defeat us. The BJP had sent the Congress to defeat AAP by cutting our votes,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
In the Visavadar bypoll held last month, AAP candidate Gopal Italia won the seat in Junagadh district by over 17,000 votes, defeating BJP’s Kirit Patel. Congress’s Nitin Ranpariya finished third with 5,501 votes.
The former Delhi chief minister also said that AAP would contest and win the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2027, claiming that voters in the state now have an alternative beyond the BJP and Congress.
AAP strong alternative to BJP, Congress: Kejriwal
Kejriwal said that after the results of the Visavadar bypolls, AAP will be seen as a strong alternative to both the BJP and Congress. “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," he said, as per PTI.
Kejriwal further alleged that “every section of the society” in Gujarat was “unhappy” with the BJP. “Despite unemployment, more than half of the posts are lying vacant, and jobs are given only on a contract basis,” the AAP national convenor said. He claimed that the people were still voting for the BJP because they “did not have any option”.
The former Delhi CM alleged that the Congress had been given “a contract” to “help the BJP win" in elections.
Kejriwal said that AAP would start the 'Gujarat Jodo Abhiyan' in preparation of the Gujarat assembly polls, urging people to join the campaign. “…people can join AAP by giving a missed call to our number. Our workers will also visit each and every house,” he added, appealing to the youths of the state to join the campaign.
