NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday released a poster of “dishonest” leaders starring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, but what caught the public eye was Rahul Gandhi- it’s INDIA bloc partner.
Reacting to this, Congress leader Alka Lamba dared AAP supremo to quit INDIA bloc adding that it was the latter that “begged” the grand old party for an alliance during 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“If Arvind Kejriwal has guts, he should announce that he is leaving the INDIA alliance. Congress party is standing strong with 100 MPs and Arvind Kejriwal is the one who gave all the 7 seats to BJP…You (Arvind Kejriwal) were begging in front of us for alliance during the Lok Sabha elections. Congress made the biggest mistake by forming an alliance with your party for the 7 seats in Delhi…Congress party had to face a huge loss because of this,” Congress candidate from Kalkaji said.
The poster has made another dent in the opposition bloc, escalating tensions between the two parties.
Other leaders in the poster include Sandeep Dikshit, and Ajay Maken, along with BJP leaders Yogi Adityanath, Anurag Thakur, Virendra Sachdeva, Parvesh Verma, and Ramesh Bidhuri, as “dishonest,” while portraying AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal as “honest.”
“Kejriwal’s honesty will prevail over all the dishonest people,” the poster read.
Congress’s internal conflicts have strained its relationship with AAP, which has accused the party of aiding the BJP by targeting Arvind Kejriwal.
“BJP and AAP are two sides of the same coin. There is no difference between them. We are fighting the elections against AAP and BJP. AAP is the B team of the BJP. There is a collusion between AAP and BJP…Who started the Anna Hazare moment? From where did they get inspiration from? RSS was behind this.” Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said.
The internal divisions within the INDIA bloc pose a significant challenge to Congress’s efforts to regain a foothold in Delhi, particularly as AAP solidifies its position with support from regional parties like Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.