Congress Isolated Within INDI Alliance: Akhilesh Yadav, TMC MP To Campaign For AAP In Delhi Elections, Says Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener announced on Tuesday (28 January) that the Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav, along with his party's members of Parliament (MPs) will be campaigning for the AAP.

AAP seeks to retain power in the Delhi assembly elections scheduled for 5 February. AAP and Congress contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Delhi together under the INDI Alliance, but now, they have parted ways.

At such juncture, other parties of the INDI Alliance, like SP and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), are backing AAP instead of Congress, despite Congress still being an ally of the SP in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

On 30 January, Yadav is set to accompany AAP leader Kejriwal in a Rithala roadshow, The Hindu reported. Numerous other members of the UP-based party, including Iqra Hasan from Kairana, will also be campaigning for Delhi's ruling party.

Cracks began to show in the opposition alliance last year as multiple parties within the coalition endorsed the proposal of TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee taking the helm.

Without explicitly endorsing Banerjee, Kejriwal stated that the leaders of the INDI Alliance could make a decision on the matter following discussions.

The group is presently under the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge but has effectively lost its unity. Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah also urged deciding the future of the INDI Alliance.

Delhi is set to witness a three-cornered fight between AAP, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP could win only eight assembly seats in the 2020 election, while the AAP won 62 and Congress bagged none.