AAP decides to go solo in Maharashtra assembly polls, ditches INDIA bloc

In a big blow to I.N.D.I.A bloc, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced that it would contest the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections alone. The party denied any speculations about forming an electoral alliance with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Maharashtra within the next few months. The primary contest in the state is between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — comprising Congress, Shiv Sena UBT, and NCP Sharad Pawar — and the Mahayuti alliance, which includes BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP. Both alliances have already started their preparations for the elections.

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has announced that it will contest the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections alone, fielding candidates in all 36 assembly seats in Mumbai. Aam Aadmi Party's Maharashtra President, Preeti Menon, has claimed that their colleagues and workers are fully prepared for the elections in the rest of the state as well. "The AAP will contest all 36 seats in Mumbai. In the rest of Maharashtra, our colleagues and volunteers are galvanised and preparations are on in full swing," Menon said.

AAP is a national party which, under the visionary leadership of Kejriwal, emerged from a people's movement and is now in power in Delhi and Punjab. It also has MLAs in Goa and Gujarat as well as MPs, she asserted.

In just 10



years, the AAP has demonstrated the "Delhi model" of development, under which quality education, healthcare, water and electricity is provided free to all and that too without corruption and without debt, she said. "If Delhi and Punjab can deliver, it is due to Aam Aadmi Party's clean politics and new political culture. The present BJP-Shinde Sena-led government has zero political will for public welfare and is instead busy in wholesale corruption as they are convinced they aren't returning to power," she claimed.

Menon said that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is part of the opposition INDIA alliance. This alliance is for the Lok Sabha elections and will continue at the national level. She confirmed that the party will contest all 36 seats in Mumbai.  

Menon alleged that the BJP is anti-Maharashtra and anti-Mumbai, and criticized the Eknath Shinde government for allegedly neglecting public welfare and focusing instead on exploiting the treasury. "Not only has the Shinde government committed a fraud on the Constitution, but it has also failed on all fronts. Unemployment and inflation have broken the back of the aam aadmi (common citizens). Agrarian distress and related farmer suicides continue unabated. Once the most industrialized state in India, Maharashtra is no longer the leader in terms of GDP. Tax payer money is being used as bank guarantees for private cooperatives," she claimed.