A day after its disappointing performance in the Haryana assembly elections, the Congress party is facing the heat after its allies in the INDIA bloc—the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)—have signalled a reluctance to form alliances for the upcoming by-elections and assembly elections in their respective states.
On Wednesday, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP announced six candidates for the upcoming by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, even though the election dates have not yet been confirmed. Meanwhile, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has said it would not forge an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
It is important to note that Congress had previously allied with both SP and AAP to contest the Lok Sabha elections in their respective states, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, held earlier from April to June.
In a social media post on X, the Samajwadi Party announced its candidates, Tej Pratap Yadav from Karhal, Naseem Solanki from Sisamau, Mustafa Siddiqui from Phulpur, Ajit Prasad from Milkipur, Shobhawati Verma from Katehari, and Jyoti Bind from Majhwan.
pic.twitter.com/U8j8UEF40W— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) October 9, 2024
The sudden announcement also comes amid reports of ongoing disagreements between Congress and the SP over seat-sharing arrangements for the bypolls, which are expected to take place towards the end of the year.
The INDIA bloc has reportedly struggled to reach an agreement, as Congress is seeking five seats, while the SP, buoyed by its recent success in the Lok Sabha elections, is offering only 2-3 seats.
The bypolls in ten assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be a crucial test for the unity of the INDIA bloc, especially following Congress’ shock defeat in Haryana. The Jat-dominated state, with a decade of anti-incumbency, voted the BJP back into power for a record third time.
Experts believe that Congress’ refusal to form an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was a key factor in the BJP’s success in Haryana.
AAP Ditches Congress For Delhi Polls
For the upcoming Delhi Assembly election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday announced that it will contest independently against an “overconfident” Congress.
“In Delhi, AAP will contest alone. We are capable of fighting the overconfident Congress and arrogant BJP alone,” said AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar.
Kakkar accused Congress of not taking its allies seriously in Haryana, leading to its defeat. “The Congress has had zero seats in the Delhi assembly for the past 10 years, yet AAP gave Congress three seats in the Lok Sabha polls; still they did not feel necessary to take allies along in Haryana,” she stated.
She further claimed that Congress hindered all efforts to create an alliance in Haryana and did not feel it necessary to collaborate with its allies.
The AAP and Congress were unable to form a pre-poll alliance due to disagreements over seat-sharing. While the AAP failed to win any seats in Haryana, Congress fell short of a majority, allowing the ruling BJP to secure a third consecutive term.
(With inputs from agencies)
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