Amidst the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann delivered a further setback to the INDI Alliance by declaring that AAP will not form a coalition with the Congress party in the state. Notably, his statement came after All India Trinamool Congress head and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her party wasn’t in talks with Congress and would fight alone in the state.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stated, “The Aam Aadmi Party has shortlisted 40 candidates for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. We are getting a survey done before finalising candidates. Punjab will emerge as a winner in the country. AAP will score 13-0,” while talking to media. He stressed, “In Punjab, we will not do anything (alliance with the Congress) like that. We have nothing with the Congress.”
#WATCH | On TMC leader Mamata Banerjee saying "Will fight alone" during Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, Punjab CM & AAP leader Bhagwant Mann says, "…In Punjab, we will not do anything (alliance with Congress) like that, we have nothing with Congress." pic.twitter.com/JVBY8FtjJV
— ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2024
According to the sources quoted by media organisations, Punjab’s unit request has been accepted by the AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, allowing the party to run for the general elections alone. The sources further added that Congress’s obstinate stance on seat-sharing was the reason behind the decision.
“I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country, but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat the BJP. I gave many proposals, but they rejected them from the beginning. From then, we have decided to fight the elections in Bengal alone,” declared Chief Minister Mamataa Banerjee earlier in the day.
She mentioned, “They did not even bother to inform me that they will be coming to West Bengal as a matter of courtesy even though I am a part of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. So there is no relation with me as far as Bengal is concerned.”
The coalition between TMC and Congress broke down as a result of the state unit president and leader of the Indian National Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury ongoing criticism of the chief minister. He asserted during a press conference on 23rd January that she only became the state’s chief minister in 2011 because of Congress’s intervention.
He charged, “This time, the elections will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and TMC in the two seats that Mamata Banerjee is leaving. The Congress party knows how to contest the elections. Mamta Banerjee is an opportunist. She came to power in 2011 with the mercy of the Congress.”
