New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that the party will independently contest the Delhi assembly elections scheduled for February 2025, explicitly ruling out any alliance with Congress, which is facing challenges after recent election losses in Maharashtra and Haryana. Kejriwal’s firm declaration comes amid Congress’s ongoing padyatra (foot march) in Delhi, protesting against what they describe as the “misgovernance” of the AAP.
Over the past few weeks, AAP has welcomed several Congress leaders into its fold. Despite earlier speculation that Kejriwal might be open to an AAP-Congress partnership, he made it clear at a press conference on Sunday that he had decided against it.
When asked about potential seat-sharing discussions, he responded, “There will be no alliance in Delhi,” indicating his determination on the matter. Political analysts view this development as unfavorable for Congress, which may have gained from a partnership in the upcoming elections. Kejriwal’s move seems to be a response to Congress’s refusal to allocate seats to AAP in Haryana, according to commentators like Rasheed Kidwai.
“This represents a significant setback for Congress, which not only faces another potential defeat in Delhi but also risks not winning any seats for the third consecutive time. It had hoped to secure 5-10 seats through an alliance with AAP,” Kidwai noted. Sanjay Kumar, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), suggested that Congress’s recent electoral failures influenced Kejriwal’s choice.
He explained that after AAP was denied seats in Haryana, it saw no reason to share them in Delhi as the dominant party. Following the election results in Haryana, Kejriwal criticized Congress for being overconfident. AAP, which emerged from the India Against Corruption movement against the Congress-led UPA II government, has weakened Congress’s influence in Delhi over the years, ending its 15-year rule in 2013 and securing major victories in subsequent elections in 2015 and 2020.
In 2022, AAP also won in Punjab, further pushing Congress from power. During the 2024 general elections under the INDIA coalition, AAP and Congress contested together in various regions, although no agreement was reached for seat-sharing in Punjab. Kidwai remarked that Congress’s poor performance in Maharashtra and Haryana has diminished the party’s previously strengthened position, following a successful showing in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Traditionally, alliances in India include a dominant partner, and Congress, once that leading force in the UPA, now faces tough negotiations with parties like AAP and RJD, especially with upcoming assembly polls in Bihar. Even as Congress aimed for gains in minority areas in Delhi, many minorities may have recognized Congress’s weaknesses.
Kidwai suggested that had Congress fared better in recent elections, they might have seen a shift in minority support towards them in Delhi, forcing Kejriwal to seek an alliance. Among the Congress leaders who recently joined AAP is Chaudhary Mateen Ahmed, a three-time MLA from Seelampur, which was heavily impacted during the riots. He is one of the 11 candidates announced by AAP for the upcoming assembly elections. Meanwhile, Devender Yadav, the Delhi Congress unit head, is leading efforts to rejuvenate the party through the ongoing padyatra and is adamant that no alliance will be formed.
