Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), delivered another blow to the Opposition INDIA group when he announced that his party will contest all 14 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in the forthcoming general elections. The statements were made when the Congress-led INDIA bloc appeared to be about to implode due to the withdrawal of support from the alliance by significant regional figures including Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, and Nitish Kumar.
“Two years back, you gave us blessings. You gave 92 out of 117 seats to us (in Assembly elections), you created history in Punjab. I have come to you with folded hands, asking for one more blessing. Lok Sabha elections will be held in two months. For the Lok Sabha elections, Punjab has 13 seats and one Chandigarh – 14 seats. In the next 10-15 days, AAP will declare its candidates in these 14 seats. You have to make AAP sweep all these 14 seats with a majority,” he said at an event on Saturday.
Arvind Kejriwal made the statement while speaking at a gathering in Khanna, Punjab. Bhagwant Mann, the chief minister of Punjab, said last month that his party will run for all 13 seats.
AAP’s Decision affects INDIA bloc
The decision came weeks after JD(U) president Nitish Kumar opted out of the INDIA alliance and rejoined PM Modi’s NDA. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, has also prioritized West Bengal politics and criticized the Congress over seat-sharing problems.
One more minor but powerful party in Western Uttar Pradesh, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), is expected to exit the Opposition coalition . RLD president Jayant Chaudhary will shake hands with PM Modi soon.
‘INDIA bloc is crumbling’: BJP Spokesperson
The BJP quickly observed the AAP supremo’s change and said that the INDIA bloc’s structure was collapsing. Shehzad Poonawalla criticized Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, claiming it is more of a ‘bye bye yatra.’
“One more blow to INDI Alliance…Arvind Kejriwal has announced today that AAP will contest alone on 13 seats of Punjab and one seat of Chandigarh. It means INDI Alliance will not contest there, there won’t be an alliance there…The structure of the INDI Alliance is crumbling…No mission, no vision, only commission, only corruption, only confusion, only contradiction. Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra is strange. It is more of a ‘bye bye yatra’ than Nyay Yatra. He should have taken out ‘INDI jodo yatra’ instead…,” BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.
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