Srinagar: The INDIA bloc, an alliance of 26 parties formed last year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to take on the might of BJP, is anything but united right now.
There have been signs of a breakdown between Congress, the biggest party, and heavyweight state parties in the past. But all hell has broken loose ahead of the Delhi Assembly election, with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress deciding to contest on their own and going hammer and tongs at each other, while the Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress have thrown their weight behind Arvind Kejriwal.
So much so that Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday raised a pertinent point on the very existence of the multi-party alliance of which his party National Conference is a part.
Expressing regrets over the lack of clarity by the leadership of the alliance, Omar said that the INDIA bloc might as well be wound up if it was formed only for the 2024 parliamentary elections.
“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, and other parties have to take a call on how they effectively compete against the BJP in Delhi. After the assembly elections, these parties should convene a meeting of all the alliance members. If this alliance (INDIA bloc) was only for the parliamentary elections then it should be wound up and we will work separately. But if it is meant for the assembly elections as well, we will have to sit together and work collectively,” Omar told newspersons in Jammu.
An RJD leader said recently that the INDIA bloc was meant only for Lok Sabha elections. The J & K chief minister didn’t agree.
“As far as I remember, no time limit was set for this (the alliance). The issue is that no meeting of the INDIA bloc is being convened,” Omar said.
“Whether this alliance will continue is also unclear. Perhaps, the members of the INDIA bloc will be called for a meeting after the Delhi elections, and clarity would emerge,” he said.
Omar refused to talk about which party has the edge in the Delhi polls.
“I cannot say anything about this because we are not involved with the Delhi polls. The Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, and other political parties on the ground will have to decide how to compete against the BJP… We will have to wait and see what the people of Delhi decide about AAP,” Omar remarked.
