Arvind Kejriwal opts out of INDIA bloc in Punjab, says AAP to contest all seats

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and one in Chandigarh, said Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, virtually calling the curtains on the Opposition’s INDIA alliance in the state.
“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 Lok Sabha elections, Punjab has 13 seats and one from Chandigarh – a total of 14 seats. In the next 10-15 days, AAP will declare its candidates in all of 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 announcement while addressing a gathering in Khanna, Punjab.
Last month, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann had said his party will contest all 13 seats in Punjab.
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Mann today attacked the Congress, saying the party has lost its ground in the state.
The remarks suggest that the ongoing talks between AAP and the Congress over seat sharing haven’t made progress.
The two parties, traditionally bitter rivals in Punjab and Delhi, had contested the Chandigarh mayoral elections together last month, indicating that they could extend the alliance to the Lok Sabha elections. However, Kejriwal’s remark indicates that the two parties may face the BJP and SAD in Punjab in a quadrilateral electoral competition.
Reacting to the announcement, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the INDIA bloc is crumbling.
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“One more blow to the INDI alliance…Arvind Kejriwal has announced today that the AAP will contest alone on 13 seats of Punjab and one seat of Chandigarh. It means the 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 ‘bye bye yatra’ than Nyay Yatra. He should have taken out ‘INDI jodo yatra’ instead,” he said.
Kejriwal’s announcement is a fresh blow to the beleaguered INDIA bloc, formed last year to take on the BJP juggernaut in the Lok Sabha elections. The Mallikarjun Kharge-led group recently lost its two main regional satraps — Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee.
Kumar joined hands with the BJP after dumping his ally RJD, saying the Congress wanted to usurp the leadership of the INDIA bloc. Banerjee claimed the Congress delayed the seat-sharing talks and rejected her offer.
While Rahul Gandhi still counts Banerjee as the Congress party’s INDIA alliance, her Trinamool has been sniping at the party.
With inputs from ANI