No possibility of alliance with Cong for Delhi polls: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday categorically ruled out any possibility of a pre-poll alliance with Congress for the 2025 Delhi assembly elections.

- Alok K N Mishra

"The Aam Aadmi Party will be fighting these elections on its own strength in Delhi. There is no possibility of any alliance with Congress," Kejriwal said in a post on X on Wednesday.

The clarification follows recent speculation about the two parties joining forces, spurred by Kejriwal's participation in an INDIA bloc meeting on Tuesday, which included senior Congress leaders, on alleged tampering of EVMs and VVPAT machines in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

The AAP and Congress previously contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as allies as parts of the larger INDIA bloc grouping of opposition parties.

In Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats, the AAP fielded candidates in four constituencies and Congress in three. The BJP, however, swept all seven seats for a third consecutive time.

Following the Lok Sabha polls, both parties affirmed that their alliance was limited to the national elections and would not extend to the Delhi assembly polls, though they remain part of the INDIA bloc for national issues.

To be sure, Kejriwal has consistently denied the possibility of an alliance for the 2025 Delhi elections. "No alliance will be formed in Delhi," Kejriwal had told media persons on December 1.

A senior AAP leader, who asked not to be identified, noted that differences over an alliance for the Haryana assembly elections, where Congress was in a stronger position, further diminished prospects for collaboration.

In Delhi, the AAP had the upper hand. In 2020 assembly elections, the AAP won 62 of Delhi's 70 seats, while the Congress didn't win any seat.

The leader cited above emphasized that the AAP's and the Congress's voter bases overlap significantly, primarily comprising anti-BJP votes, making an alliance strategically challenging.