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Will Akali Dal join INDIA bloc? Will Kejriwal accept it? 'We have many options'
Sharad Pawar said it will be difficult to include SAD into the INDIA alliance; AAP MP Raghav Chadha said there will be no discussion regarding this.
As 28 parties attend the third meeting of the opposition alliance INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) in Mumbai on Thursday, the prospect of a new partner from Punjab has put things in disarray as Akali Dal joining the opposition's bloc may upset the applecart with Arvind Kejriwal's AAP in the opposition grouping.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said Akali Dal has many options ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections and it will join the alliance that will benefit Punjab. "We will discuss it internally. Because Congress has damaged Punjab a lot," Sukhbir Singh Badal said. INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai: Follow LIVE updates
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Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said there was no proposal from SAD to join INDIA as of now but if any such proposal comes, INDIA is ready to discuss it. However, including Akali Dal in the grouping won't be easy as Arvind Kejriwal is there in INDIA. "It is not easy because we have Arvind Kejriwal whose party is ruling Punjab and the Congress party has a different policy there," Sharad Pawar said.
"As far as this particular regional party is concerned, let me tell you, there is no conversation. And there will be no conversation regarding their induction and that is my full and final statement," AAP MP Raghav Chadha said on a question on Akali.
SAD is the oldest ally of the BJP and walked out of the NDA over 2020's farmers' protest.
Kejriwal has no spot in Cong's poster, deleted later
Kejriwal and AAP proved to be volatile for INDIA as Kejriwal earlier said he would not support the Congress-led grouping if the Congress did not support AAP over Delhi Services Act.
A poster of INDIA put up by the Congress has been the latest to miff Kejriwal and AAP as the poster did not feature Kejriwal's photo although it had photos of Stalin, Hemant Soren, Mamata Banerjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav, Sitaram Yechury and Omar Abdullah -- apart from Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi leading them all.
The poster was later deleted and in the fresh poster, Kejriwal found a place along with the other CMs of the opposition-ruled states.
