The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s announcement to exit the INDIA bloc has delivered a significant blow to the alliance a day before its constituents are scheduled to meet virtually to finalise their joint floor strategy for the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament starting from July 21.
The INDIA bloc meeting, to be held virtually, would be attended by all the parties barring AAP, a Congress leader has confirmed.
“People would not be able to come to Delhi on Saturday due to different programmes... we will have an online meeting before the Parliament session. After that, we will meet in Delhi,” Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, asserting the bloc remains united.
The TMC, which has had disagreements with the Congress in the past, however, said its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee would join the meeting that is set to deliberate on a host of key issues, including the ECI’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, the demand for a discussion on the Pahalgam attack, and US President Donald Trump’s claims of brokering peace between India and Pakistan.
CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby said, “Problems had started between the Congress and the AAP during Delhi polls. CPI(M) believes that the INDIA bloc must be strengthened and expanded. I sincerely hope the two parties will be able to settle their differences.”
{{/usCountry}}CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby said, “Problems had started between the Congress and the AAP during Delhi polls. CPI(M) believes that the INDIA bloc must be strengthened and expanded. I sincerely hope the two parties will be able to settle their differences.”
{{/usCountry}}This is seen as the biggest jolt to the bloc since Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar left the alliance in 2024.
A senior Congress leader said AAP’s exit will impact the alliance in two ways. “One, of course, the alliance got weaker in Parliament, particularly in the Rajya Sabha. But, more importantly, AAP will try to field candidates in upcoming polls to undercut prospects of non-BJP parties.”
The AAP has announced that it will fight in the Bihar elections.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry are set to go to polls in 2026. While AAP has little influence in the South, a second Congress leader said it might fight polls in Assam and states where the Congress is in a direct fight with the BJP.
Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, however, said: “AAP’s exit will only strengthen the INDIA alliance by removing ambiguity...”