In no mood to ally with AAP: Punjab Congress throws spanner in INDIA's works
Sep 06, 2023
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], September 6 : In a setback of sorts to the Opposition alliance — INDIA — where the two parties are partners, the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly and senior Congress leader, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Wednesday, said the state Congress was not willing to ally with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Taking to his official handle on 'X', formerly Twitter, Bajwa posted, "Punjab Congress Cadre is in no mood to form an alliance with the @AAPPunjab for the forthcoming general elections. Even after getting hold of the power in the state for the past 18 months, the AAP is desperate to form an alliance with the Congress."
"No Punjab Congress leader has ever issued a statement about contesting elections in an alliance with the AAP. It is only the AAP leadership, that is making such statements because they have lost their ground in Punjab. AAP's victory in the Punjab assembly election in 2022 was a political experiment that has failed terribly," he added in his post.
Earlier, on Wednesday, addressing media persons in Ludhiana, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann weighed in on the seat-sharing strategy of the INDIA bloc in the state.
"We know how to fight alone, win and run the government. We fought the Punjab Assembly polls on our own and won 92 seats. We fought the Delhi assembly polls and won. In Gujarat, we secured 13 per cent of the total votes polled," the CM said.
A grand alliance of 28 Opposition parties, the INDIA bloc aims to put up a unified challenge to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre and dislodge it from power in next year's general elections.
On September 1, the leaders of the INDIA bloc held their third meeting in Mumbai, adopting multiple resolutions to collectively contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The leaders added that the seat-sharing arrangements between the INDIA partners would be finalised as soon as possible in a spirit of "give-and-take".
