AAP to contest Punjab on its own: Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal's AAP party will announce candidates for Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and Chandigarh within two weeks, dealing a blow to the opposition INDIA bloc.

Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will announce candidates for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and the lone seat in Chandigarh within a fortnight in a further blow to the opposition INDIA bloc.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann in Ludhiana on Saturday. (PTI)

His comments come at a time when the opposition parties that principally agreed to fight as one under the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) banner have struggled to agree on a seat-sharing formula, especially in states where they are in a triangular contest involving one or more prospective allies and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Seeking people’s blessings for the elections due this summer, the Delhi chief minister said voters need to “sweep Punjab” with full force. “Two years back, you gave your blessings. Out of 117 seats, you gave us 92 seats. You created history in Punjab. Today I again seek your blessing with folded hands,” he said in a reference to the 2022 Punjab assembly elections when the AAP stormed to power, in a major setback for the Congress, a key INDIA bloc constituent.

“There will be Lok Sabha elections after two months. In Punjab, there are 13 (Lok Sabha) seats, one is Chandigarh and there will be 14 seats. In the coming 10-15 days, the AAP will announce its candidates on all these 14 seats. I request you the way you blessed us two years back, get the party to win all these 14 seats,” said Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann.

While the AAP contested the Chandigarh mayoral polls in alliance with the Congress, the announcement about the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat came weeks after Mann, on January 24, announced that the party would go solo in Punjab. That announcement was followed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) — another INDIA party — saying it would context all seats in West Bengal alone.

Earlier, the AAP announced it will go it alone in Haryana’s assembly polls.

To be sure, while such announcements do signal fissures within the bloc, a possible alliance may still be on the cards until candidates are declared and nominations filed.

Hours after the announcement, the AAP issued a statement emphasising that it was firmly with the INDIA bloc and asked the Congress for a quick decision on seat-sharing.

The local units of both Congress and AAP in Punjab favoured fighting election separately, the statement said. “So we have decided to honour that. Regarding other states, talks are ongoing,” the statement said.

“We are firmly with the alliance. Our shared goal is to defeat the BJP. Time is thus of paramount importance if the goal is to defeat the BJP and we are hoping that the Congress will finalise seat-sharing talks at the earliest,” the party, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, said.

Kejriwal made Saturday’s announcement while addressing a gathering organised for the Punjab government’s “Ghar ghar muft ration” (doorstep delivery of ration) scheme, in Amloh.

During his address, the Delhi chief minister praised the Bhagwant Mann government for completing a “lot of work” in the past two years, and hit out at the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal.

“In 75 years, the Congress has ruled for so many years. Tell me one good work the Congress has done. (You) will not remember. If I ask you, Akali Dal ruled for so many years, tell me one good work the Akali Dal has done. (You) will not remember,” said Kejriwal.

“It is just two years since Mann became the CM and tell one work he has done. Everybody will say electricity has been made free. There is a 24-hour electricity supply,” he said.

“How the money came? Everybody’s electricity has been made free. It is an honest government and does not indulge in corruption,” he asserted, adding that every penny is being spent on the welfare of people.

Kejriwal said the people will not have to visit ration (fair price) shops every month for food grains now.

Under this scheme, beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act will get wheat in bags at their doorsteps.

Kejriwal said despite many parties having formed government at the Centre, the theft of ration meant for the poor could not stop in the past 75 years.

“If 100 kg ration is sent, then only 10-15 kg reaches the poor,” said Kejriwal, alleging that the rest of the ration was misappropriated by middlemen, politicians and officers.

“The ‘Ghar ghar muft ration’ scheme which is starting (from Punjab) is not a small thing. It is the beginning of stopping the lakhs and crores worth of black business from the theft of ration in the country,” he said.

The AAP leader said after his party formed the government in Delhi, he tried to implement the same scheme in the national capital. When it was about to be implemented, the BJP government stopped its implementation, he alleged. “I wanted to stop theft of ration and get the poor their rights,” he said.

This scheme will not remain limited to Punjab only, he said, adding that one day will come in 5-10 years, this scheme will be implemented throughout the country.

In the 2019, Lok Sabha polls, the Congress won eight seats, the Shiromani Akali Dal had won two, the Bharatiya Janata Party won two and the AAP had won one seat. The Chandigarh seat is represented by BJP MP Kirron Kher.

Saturday’s announcement added to the woes of the INDIA bloc as major political parties with strong presence in some states have announced their decisions to contest elections alone. While AAP and TMC have decided to go solo in Punjab and West Bengal, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) pulled out of the alliance at the state level and decided to rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance last month.

Separately, there is speculation that the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Jayant Chaudhary, a prominent Jat leader with considerable sway in western Uttar Pradesh, is set to walk out of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to align with the BJP.