Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi and the President of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP,) said, the Party is preparing to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections alone.
On the 25th of February, during an interview with NDTV, Arvind Kejriwal said, after the refusal of the Indian National Congress (INC) to form an alliance with the AAP, the AAP will fight alone in the general elections.
Mr. Kejriwal said, “They [Congress] have refused to go for a gathbandhan [alliance.]”
However, Sheila Dikshit, the INC Chief of Delhi, denied the claims of Kejriwal and said, the AAP never approached the INC for an alliance.
When asked about the intention to approach INC for the alliance, Mr. Kejriwal said, the only reason to forge an alliance is to prevent the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from coming to power again.
Kejriwal also criticised the BJP and said, the Party destroyed the unity, economy and environment of India. He said, he has no positive feelings or love for the INC, but all he wants is “to stop them (the BJP.)”
The initiative to form an alliance was taken by Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and N.Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Both these parties, which are against the BJP, called for a meeting to discuss about the pre poll alliance in Delhi.
Later, on the 13th of February, Mamata Banerjee, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, the President of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP,) and Rahul Gandhi, the President of the INC, held a meeting. The meeting was conducted at the residence of Sharad Pawar.
The Lok Sabha elections are scheduled between April and May 2019 and the major parties contesting are the BJP and the INC.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Lok Sabha elections.
