Key INDIA bloc members pick AAP over Congress for Delhi poll, raising questions about alliance’s future

TMC, SP support AAP; Shiv Sena (UBT) also says AAP is stronger in Delhi; NC asks if alliance was only meant for Lok Sabha poll, RJD says yes; bloc’s last meeting held on June 1 ahead of the LS poll results

The Delhi Assembly election has triggered an unexpected crisis for the INDIA bloc. The Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress have extended unqualified support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the Congress. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is also leaning in favour of Delhi’s ruling party.

The support of these parties is symbolic at best, since none of them actually have any significant electoral presence in Delhi. However, their actions signal a wider problem within the bloc.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah — whose party, the National Conference, has refused to pick sides — said on Thursday that the alliance’s agenda, leadership and future strategy is not clear. If the alliance is only meant for the Parliamentary election, then it should be wound up, he said.

‘We have your back, AAP’

On Wednesday evening, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal announced that the TMC had extended its support to the AAP for the Delhi election. Within minutes, the TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien, posted on X, quoting Mr. Kejriwal’s post, and saying, “We have your back @AamAadmiParty.”

The Shiv Sena (UBT) castigated the Congress for making personal attacks on Mr. Kejriwal, including calling him a “traitor”, but clarified that it is not yet selecting one over the other. “We have not yet officially declared our support to AAP. Both AAP and Congress are our friends. But it is true that Arvind Kejriwal is stronger at present,” senior party leader Sanjay Raut told The Hindu. We want both of them to resolve this without much mudslinging. Uddhav Thackeray will meet the media tomorrow evening, where he will clarify the party’s stand,” he added.

The editorial on the Delhi poll in the party’s mouthpiece Saamana is also critical of the Congress. “The contest in the Delhi Assembly election is between BJP and AAP only. Congress party is in the fray and it is attacking Arvind Kejriwal and AAP instead of BJP...”

Existential question

Refusing to pick sides between the AAP and the Congress, Mr. Abdullah instead raised an existential question. “After the Assembly election in Delhi, they should call all the alliance members for a meeting. If this alliance was only for the parliamentary election, it should be wound up, and we will work separately. But if it is meant for Assembly elections as well, we will have to sit together and work collectively,” the J&K CM told reporters in Jammu. The last meeting of the INDIA bloc was held on June 1, just before the Lok Sabha election results were announced.

It is not the first time the question has been asked, whether the bloc assembled only for the Parliamentary election or will extend to the State elections as well. During the 2023 Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh elections, similar questions had cropped up, since the Congress had failed to give any seats to the Samajwadi Party despite several rounds of negotiation. The Left parties have also expressed disappointment that the Congress failed to accommodate them in several consecutive State polls.

Only for LS poll: RJD

Wading into the argument, senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav unequivocally stated that the bloc was only meant for the Parliamentary election. “It was decided, at the very onset of the INDIA bloc, that it was limited to Lok Sabha elections only. As far as Bihar is concerned, we have been together since the beginning,” Mr. Yadav told reporters in Buxar. Bihar is set to go to the polls at the end of this year. 

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat refused to explicitly choose between the Congress and the AAP. “CPI(M) is fighting two seats [in Delhi]. We will also extend support to other Left parties who are fighting on a couple of seats. In all other seats, we will support the strongest candidate against the BJP. Our slogan is ‘Defeat BJP, save Delhi’,” Ms. Karat told The Hindu. 

Mr. Kejriwal, meanwhile, thanked the INDIA bloc members for their support. “With your support, we are confident of defeating the BJP in the upcoming elections,” he wrote on X. 

(with inputs from Amit Bhelari in Patna and Peerzada Ashiq in Srinagar)

Published - January 09, 2025 08:26 pm IST