Aam Aadmi Party (AA) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Raghav Chadha, while commenting on the strained ties between the Congress and AAP – both part of the opposition’s INDIA bloc against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections – said that “this kind of tu tu main main hurts the hopes of people".
Many constituents of the INDIA bloc feel the Congress has let go of a big opportunity by failing to come to a seat-sharing agreement or even friendly contests in the election-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has been vocal about his disappointment, while Community Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has admitted openly that the talks have failed. Parties such as the AAP have been more subdued in their response, reiterating that the INDIA bloc was formed keeping the Lok Sabha elections in mind. Each party is contesting on its own steam and symbol, even at the risk of dividing the vote of the opposition.
In Delhi, the Congress has gone a step further, alleging Congress parliamentary party president Sonia Gandhi had to leave Delhi due to acute air pollution and will be in Rajasthan to campaign for the party. “In any case, Sonia Gandhi should go to Jaipur and campaign for the upcoming elections. However, as far as the attack by the Congress on the AAP is concerned, I don’t want to comment on that," said Chadha.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS: ‘FIGHT UNITEDLY’
On his message to the Congress and the future of the INDIA bloc, he said, “All of us should strive to keep the INDIA bloc united. When the INDIA bloc was formed, it reflected the popular imagination, thought, hope of an alternative for 135 crore Indians. This kind of tu tu main main hurts the hopes of people."
“We should try to make all efforts to ensure that the INDIA bloc remains strong and the sankalp, which led to the birth of this gathbandhan, should not be forgotten. Unitedly, we should fight to remove dictatorship, price rise and unemployment and this would be my message to the Congress," said Chadha.
‘INDIA GATHBANDHAN IS STRONG’
When asked about the INDIA bloc of parties fighting each other in the election-bound states, Chadha said, “This gathbandhan was made for the Lok Sabha elections. And this gathbandhan, keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections, is so strong, the founding principles of this gathbandhan are so strong that it has triggered fear in the BJP. The BJP is so rattled that it has not been able to get over the nomenclature of the gathbandhan. Even now, it is busy attempting to distort the nomenclature of the gathbandhan. This is a strong gathbandhan. I am speaking , not just from my heart, but from my head. Arithmetically and mathematically, I believe that if one BJP candidate is pitted against one candidate of the INDIA bloc, one vs one, the BJP will lose the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in a big way and INDIA bloc will form the government."
The AAP is contesting on all seats in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal left for campaigning in Singrauli, MP, on November 2, the day when he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Since then, the AAP chief has campaigned in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
According to sources, no talks on seat sharing have happened between the AAP and Congress either in the five-election bound states or for the upcoming general elections.
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