'AAP to contest Delhi Assembly Elections alone, no alliance with Congress,' clarifies Gopal Rai

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Delhi state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday (Jun 6) clarified that his party's alliance with Congress was only for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and that it will contest the Delhi assembly polls alone.

"This is clear from the very first day that the INDIA alliance was formed for Lok Sabha elections. As far as Vidhan Sabha is concerned, no alliance has been formed. AAP will fight elections with its full strength," Rai said.

He further said that the opposition parties had come together as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general elections and that there was no alliance for assembly polls that are scheduled to take place early next year.

“It is clear from the beginning that the INDIA alliance was formed for the Lok Sabha elections. We fought Lok Sabha elections together but in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections, there is no alliance. We will fight the Vidhan Sabha elections together with the people of Delhi,” he said.

AAP and Congress' alliance in Lok Sabha polls

The Aam Aadmi Party, which found itself in hot waters in the past few months after supremo Kejriwal was arrested in an excise policy case, allied with Congress as part of the INDIA bloc to contest the 18th Lok Sabha polls.

While AAP fielded candidates for four constituencies out of seven, Congress contested fromthe remaining three seats.

Both parties drew a blank in the national capital as BJP emerged victorious in all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies.

Despite agreeing on a collaboration for Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Punjab, and Gujarat, Congress and AAP did not form an alliance in Punjab and both parties went solo.

Congress secured seven out of 13 seats in the north Indian state while AAP despite being the ruling party only managed to get three.

(With inputs from agencies)