New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal has said that the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party have announced support to his party in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.

Mr Kejriwal, who is the former Chief Minister of Delhi, also hit out at the Congress for “partnering” with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) discreetly. 

All the four parties – AAP, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Congress – are partners in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and had jointly fought the Lok Sabha elections last year. 

In a post on X on Wednesday, Mr Kejriwal said he is “personally grateful” to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Chairperson of the Trinamool Congress, for extending her support. 

“TMC has announced support to AAP in Delhi elections. I am personally grateful to Mamata Didi. Thank you Didi. You have always supported and blessed us in our good and bad times,” the former Delhi Chief Minister said.

TMC has announced support to AAP in Delhi elections. I am personally grateful to Mamta Didi. Thank you Didi. U have always supported and blessed us in our good and bad times.

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 8, 2025

Minutes later, Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien responded to Mr Kejriwal’s post, saying: “We have your back @AamAadmiParty.” 

On Tuesday night, Mr Kejriwal extended his gratitude to Samajwadi President President Akhilesh Yadav for his party’s support to the AAP in next month’s polls. “Thank you very much Akhilesh ji. You always support and stand with us. I and the people of Delhi are grateful for this,” he wrote in Hindi on the micro-blogging platform, as he shared a news report claiming that the SP will support the AAP in the polls.

There was no public statement or announcement either from Mr Yadav or the Samajwadi Party on the matter but sources said that he expressed his intent to support the AAP, after a press conference on Tuesday.

बहुत बहुत शुक्रिया अखिलेश जी। आपका हमेशा हमें सपोर्ट और साथ रहता है। इसके लिए मैं और दिल्ली की जनता आभारी हैं। https://t.co/as58s2ksDt

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 7, 2025

The Trinamool and the Samajwadi Party had thrown their weight behind the AAP in the 2020 Delhi assembly elections as well. 

Mr O’Brien had uploaded, on X, a video endorsing not just Mr Kejriwal as Chief Minister but all AAP candidates.

As the AAP swept the 2020 elections, Mr Yadav congratulated Mr Kejriwal on the big win. 

Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal hit out at the Congress after its leader, Ashok Gehlot claimed that AAP leaders are delusional about its victory in the next month’s polls.

“They are our opposition. It’s their misconception that just because they have won the previous two elections, they will repeat their performance this time. The Congress is campaigning well and we know that the results will be good this time,” Mr Gehlot said. 

Hitting back, Mr Kejriwal said the Congress has made it clear that the “AAP is its opposition in Delhi”. “People also felt that AAP is the opposition for Congress and BJP is its partner. People also believed that BJP and Congress are fighting the elections together against AAP. Till now this cooperation between you two was secret. Today you have made it public. Thank you on behalf of the people of Delhi,” the AAP National Convenor wrote on X. 

Both the AAP and the Congress have been locked in an intense battle, over various issues, for quite some time. Though the two parties fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Delhi under the INDIA bloc, they are fighting the assembly elections separately. 

The two parties had blamed one another for the poll debacle in the Capital during the parliamentary elections.

Last month, Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken’s remarks that a tie-up with the AAP during the Lok Sabha polls was a “mistake” further worsened relations between the allies. The AAP said it will ask other members of the INDIA bloc to remove the Congress from the alliance, if the latter does not act against Mr Maken for his remarks.

Voting for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held in a single phase on February 5 and the results will be announced on February 8.

The Congress, which was in power for 15 consecutive years in Delhi, suffered setbacks in the last two assembly elections and failed to win any seat. In contrast, the AAP dominated the 2020 assembly elections by winning 62 out of 70 seats while the BJP got only eight seats.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday described the two projects inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as milestones for Delhi’s infrastructure and claimed they were joint ventures between the central and the city governments.

PM Modi inaugurated a 13-kilometre stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor from Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad to New Ashok Nagar here and the Janakpuri West-Krishna Park Extension section of the Delhi Metro’s Phase IV.

During a press conference, Mr Kejriwal congratulated the people of Delhi and asserted that the projects were a collaboration between the city and the central governments.

Taking a dig at his critics, Mr Kejriwal said, “These inaugurations are a reply to those who say AAP only engages in fights.” Referring to the challenges faced by his party, he claimed AAP leaders were imprisoned and tortured but maintained their focus on governance.

“Over the past 10 years, our tenure has shown how we kept work above everything else,” he said.

He also hit out at PM Modi, alleging that the prime minister devoted the majority of his speech to criticise the Delhi government.

Mr Kejriwal said, “Today, the prime minister kept abusing the people of Delhi and the elected government of Delhi. I was listening to it, it felt bad. The promise made by the prime minister in 2020 — the people of Delhi Dehat are still waiting for that to be fulfilled.” 

The former chief minister also urged PM Modi to fulfil the promises made in the BJP’s election manifesto.

With elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly due in February, Mr Kejriwal’s remarks underlined AAP’s focus on development amid its continuing tussle with the Centre.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boss Arvind Kejriwal has reiterated his party’s decision to contest the upcoming Delhi elections on its own, trashing reports that the AAP was discussing a seat-sharing strategy with the Congress. His remark came a day after he met veteran politician Sharad Pawar at his Delhi home, also attended by senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

“Aam Aadmi Party will be fighting this election on its own strength in Delhi. There is no possibility of any alliance with Congress,” said Mr Kejriwal, sharing a post that said the parties were in the final stage of their alliance talks.

Devender Yadav, the interim boss of Delhi Congress, confirmed last month the two parties will not contest together in the election that is expected to be held in February.

Read: AAP “Fishing In Congress’ Waters” As Arvind Kejriwal Plots Re-Election Bid

Last week, after Mr Kejriwal announced a solo contest in Delhi, a Congress leader said that by making repeated statements, the AAP wants to create an environment that compromises the Congress.

“It means they (AAP) are afraid and want to create an environment that compromises the Congress. Otherwise, when this has been clarified, then it should not happen again. A week ago, Delhi Congress had said that we would not make an alliance with anyone,” former Congress MP Udit Raj had said.

The AAP had allied with the Congress during the parliamentary polls earlier this year but lost all seven seats to the BJP. The two parties went solo in Haryana polls in October after alliance talks failed over seat choices, which was seen as a reason behind their poll debacle.

The Delhi unit of Congress had been targeting the AAP over various issues, even though the two parties are working together at the national level, including for the ongoing Parliament session.

Read: “When We Have Said…”: Congress Reacts To AAP Going Solo For Delhi Poll

Sources told NDTV that the AAP was looking for strong candidates in the Congress fold with a focus on reviving the party in the city after the Lok Sabha poll setback.

The recent announcement by Mr Kejriwal followed a decision by the Opposition’s INDIA alliance to approach the Supreme Court over an alleged manipulation of the Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs, which they believe is behind their election defeats.

The decision assumed significance in the wake of the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s Maharashtra poll setback, which saw Sharad Pawar’s party – split by his nephew Ajit Pawar – recording its worst performance.