Delhi Assembly Elections 2025: After prominent biggies of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) like Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia lost the electoral battle, parties from the INDI Alliance expressed strong disappointment.
Following the results, the CPI(M) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Saturday claimed that the differences in the INDIA block paved way for the saffron party’s good show in the national capital. Both the CPI(M) and the IUML are part of the INDI Alliance.
The CPI(M) attacked the Congress and accused them of facilitating the victory of the BJP in the National Capital. However, the IUML opted not to directly criticise the grand-old party, but made it clear that if the partners of the INDI Alliance fought the election unitedly, they could have successfully resisted the saffron party from coming into power. When his reaction was sought, senior CPI(M) leader and the convenor of the ruling LDF, T P Ramakrishnan alleged that the Congress didn’t support well for the effective functioning of the INDIA block.
“There was no support from the side of the Congress. If the party had taken the initiative, the alliance could have functioned more effectively. But, the grand old party didn’t fulfill their responsibility,” he told reporters as quoted by PTI
While answering a question, he said the presence of the Left is weak in a state like Delhi and if anyone who could do something there was the Congress. Accusing the Congress, he said the party did not adopt a favourable stand in taking the INDI Alliance together and united. “They adopted a stand facilitating the BJP to come to power in New Delhi,” Ramakrishnan alleged.
After the results, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also that the people of Delhi “voted for change” as they were “fed up with the way things were”.
Meanwhile, former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav took to X and said that the results helps the BJP in its quest for ‘total dominance’.
“A moral shattering defeat for AAP in Delhi is not a moment for vicarious pleasure, as it helps the BJP in its quest for ‘total dominance’. It’s a setback for all those who hoped for alternative politics from this experiment. It’s a setback for the entire opposition. It teaches us that welfare policies are necessary but not sufficient, that anti-corruption crusaders have to be extra vigilant about their own image, that you cannot defeat the BJP by copying its ideology.,” Yadav posted.
Time for INDIA bloc leaders to set aside oneupmanship, forge an alternative agenda and join hands in defending the republic, he added.
Omar Abdullah blames Congress
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday appeared to blame Congress for chipping away Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) votes. “Aur lado aapas mein [and continue fighting each other]!!!” Abdullah quote posted a post from the digital platform DeKoder on X quoting political analyst Manisha Priyam suggesting Congress was chipping away votes from AAP as it appeared to be losing.
Abdullah’s cryptic post came a month after he regretted a lack of clarity on the part of the INDIA bloc leadership. According to a report by Hindustan Times, he said the grouping should be wound up if it was formed only for the parliamentary elections. He maintained there was no time-frame attached to the bloc.
The J&K CM had asked AAP, Congress, and other parties in the bloc to take the call on how they effectively compete against the BJP in Delhi, Hindustan Times reported. Earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said that the bloc was only for the Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) also blamed Congress for “BJP’s win and AAP’s defeat.”
AAP and Congress at loggerheads
Reportedly, the AAP and the Congress were at loggerheads and traded allegations ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly polls. The two INDIA bloc constituents contested the Delhi polls separately. In December 2024, the AAP sought Congress’s removal from the bloc if it did not take action against its leaders for their statements against Delhi’s ruling party and for allegedly receiving the BJP’s funding.
The party also accused Congress’s Delhi unit of working with the BJP to ensure AAP’s defeat in the Delhi polls. INDIA bloc of around two dozen parties was formed last year to counter the BJP. Things turn sour between AAP and Congress after Delhi Pradesh’s Youth Congress filed a police complaint against Kejriwal and AAP for misleading voters and fraud.