In a major development, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday (February 10) announced that his party would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in the upcoming general elections. Kejriwal's announcement comes as a major blow to the Opposition's I.N.D.I.A bloc which is aiming to defeat the BJP at the Centre. Congress and AAP are a part of the Opposition's bloc. "AAP will announce candidates for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and 1 in Chandigarh in 10-15 days," Kejriwal said.
What did Kejriwal say?
Reminding the people of the historic victory the party achieved in Punjab in the last Assembly elections, Kejriwal urged the people to vote for the party in the Lok Sabha elections as well.
"Two years back, you gave us blessings. You gave 92 out of 117 seats to us (in Assembly elections), you created history in Punjab. I have come to you with folded hands, asking for one more blessing. Lok Sabha elections will be held in two months. For Lok Sabha elections, Punjab has 13 seats and one from Chandigarh - a total of 14 seats. In the next 10-15 days, AAP will declare its candidates in all of these 14 seats. You have to make AAP sweep all these 14 seats with majority," he added.
Bhagwant Mann reiterates Kejriwal's remark
Reiterating that the AAP will win all seats in Punjab in Lok Sabha elections, state Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the party will declare all candidates by the end of this month.
"By the end of this month, we will declare all our 13 candidates from Punjab and one from Chandigarh (for 2024 Lok Sabha polls). We are confident that it will be 14-0 - 13 in Punjab and one in Chandigarh," he said.
I.N.D.I.A bloc seat-sharing trouble
The Opposition's bloc, consisting of over 25 parties, have stumbled to the seat-sharing issue with several parties expressing their grievance regarding the delay in formulating a strategy to take on the BJP.
BJP reacts
Reacting to Kejriwal's announcement, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that the structure of the I.N.D.I.A bloc is crumbling. He took a potshot at Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra being led by Rahul Gandhi and said that it is "more of bye bye yatra".
"One more blow to INDI Alliance...Arvind Kejriwal has announced today that AAP will contest alone on 13 seats of Punjab and one seat of Chandigarh. It means INDI Alliance will not contest there, there won't be an alliance there...The structure of the INDI Alliance is crumbling...No mission, no vision, only commission, only corruption, only confusion, only contradiction. Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra is strange. It is more of 'bye bye yatra' than Nyay Yatra. He should have taken out 'INDI jodo yatra' instead..." he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
