Ahmedabad, July 3 - Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said his party no longer has any alliance with the Congress and accused the Congress of helping the ruling BJP in Gujarat. He said the Congress-led India (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) alliance of opposition parties was only for last year's Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a press conference here, the former Delhi Chief Minister said his party will contest and win the 2027 Gujarat assembly elections. The people of the state now have another option besides the BJP and the Congress.
Kejriwal said, "We have no alliance with the Congress. If there was an alliance, why did they fight the by-election in Visakhapatnam? They came to defeat us. The BJP sent the Congress to defeat AAP by cutting our votes." “When the Congress failed, the BJP also reprimanded them. The India alliance was only for the Lok Sabha elections. Now there is no alliance from us.”
AAP leader Gopal Italia defeated BJP’s Kirit Patel by a margin of over 17,000 votes in the by-election to the Visavadar seat in Junagadh district last month. Congress candidate Nitin Ranpriya finished third with 5,501 votes. Kejriwal claimed that the BJP has ruined Gujarat in its 30-year rule.
He said the Congress has failed as an opposition party because it helps the BJP to remain in power. In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 162, the Congress 12 and the AAP 5 MLAs. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party and two MLAs are independents.