Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, center, addresses a press conference, in New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: At a time when tension is rising in the Opposition bloc, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the contest in Delhi Assembly election is between his party and the BJP and not that of I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
His comments came as Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) expressed their support for AAP in the Delhi elections, in what is seen as a message to the Congress that is fighting the elections against the Kejriwal-led party.
“The Delhi election is between AAP and BJP. It is not an election of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. I am thanking whoever is supporting us. I express my heartfelt thanks to Mamata Banerjee and Ahkilesh Yadav for their support. I have read in the media that (Uddhav) Thackeray’s party (Shiv Sena-UBT) also supports us. I am thankful for their support and blessings,” he said.
Soon after his press conference, he posted on ‘X’ tagging a report headlined ‘No takers for Congress? Most I.N.D.I.A bloc allies back AAP in Delhi, snub Grand Old Party’, that he “sincerely thank” alliance partners for their support. “With your support, we are confident of defeating the BJP in the upcoming elections,” he added.
Kejriwal also said he would not be contesting from a second seat out of fear of losing from New Delhi, as claimed by BJP leaders. "I am contesting one seat only," Kejriwal said when asked about BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya's claim that he would be contesting from a second seat.
Asked about his Congress rival in New Delhi seat Sandeep Dikshit planning to file a defamation case against AAP leaders for alleging that he took money from BJP, Kejriwal said he is a “pawn” of the saffron party.
“When BJP asks him (Dikshit) to move one step, he would do that. If he is asked to move two steps, he would then do that. If they ask him to file a case, he would do that too,” Kejriwal told a press conference.
Tension between AAP and Congress had been rising in the recent weeks after the latter's leader Ajay Maken called Kejriwal an "anti-national" and the former warning that it would seek support of other parties to "drop" the I.N.D.I.A. bloc's unofficial leader. And, the support by I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties to AAP has also been seen as a message to the grand old party.
At the press conference, Kejriwal also attacked the BJP accusing it of “cheating” the Jat community in Delhi by not including them in the central list of Other Backward Communities and depriving them of quota benefits.
He said that Jats in Delhi are included in the state list and avail benefits but despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah meeting the community leaders four times and assuring them since 2015, they have not been included central list.
“Jats in Delhi can avail reservation in Delhi government institutions but not that of central government. A Jat residing in Delhi cannot get admission in Delhi university or a job in Delhi Police through quota as they are not in the central list. However, a Jat from Rajasthan, who is included in the central list, can get admission or jobs,” Kejriwal, who also wrote to Modi, said.
“A Jat in Delhi cannot get an admission or a job but a Rajasthani Jat can. The Prime Minister and Home Minister met them four times before elections, including UP polls, in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022 and assured the community but no action was taken. I promise the Jat community that we would fight to include them in the central list,” he said.