The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) distanced itself from the INDIA bloc on Friday, saying it is not part of the opposition alliance anymore and questioning the Congress party’s role in leading it.
Remarks to this effect were made by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh ahead of an online meeting of the leaders of the INDIA bloc parties scheduled for Saturday evening to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country.
The meeting comes ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, which starts on Monday. It will be held after a long gap since the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) last deliberated on the country’s political situation jointly.
“The AAP has cleared its stand. The INDIA bloc was for the (2024) Lok Sabha polls. We fought the Delhi and Haryana Assembly polls on our own. We are going to fight the Bihar election solo. We fought the bypolls in Punjab and Gujarat all by ourselves. The AAP is not part of the INDIA. We will strongly raise issues in the Lok Sabha. We have always played the role of a strong opposition,” Singh told PTI Videos.
The senior leader also said the AAP will not attend the INDIA bloc meeting.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Delhi and Haryana in an alliance with the Congress. The alliance drew a blank in Delhi, with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) clean sweep for a third time in a row.
Slamming the Congress, Singh questioned its role in leading the opposition bloc.
“It is not child’s play. Did they hold any meeting after the Lok Sabha polls? Was there any initiative to expand the INDIA bloc? Sometimes they criticise Akhilesh Yadav, sometimes Uddhav Thackeray and sometimes Mamata Banerjee. The INDIA should have been united. The Congress is the biggest party in the bloc. But did it play a role (in ensuring opposition unity)?” he asked.
On the AAP’s role in opposing the government, the Rajya Sabha MP said his party has always been strongly opposing the ruling dispensation.
“We will do it with full strength. The INDIA can do whatever it wants,” he added.
According to a senior AAP functionary, the party will raise the issues of Operation Sindoor, demolition of slums in Delhi and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar in the upcoming session of Parliament.
After winning the Visavadar Assembly bypoll in Gujarat, Kejriwal had alleged that the ruling BJP had sent the Congress to defeat his party by cutting its votes.
“When the Congress failed, the BJP even reprimanded it. The INDIA bloc was only for the Lok Sabha polls. Now, there is no alliance from our side,” Kejriwal said earlier this month. (PTI)
