INDIA Flails As AAP-Congress War Tears 'United Opposition' Apart Ahead Of Delhi Polls

The INDIA bloc faces a major crisis as AAP and Congress engage in a fierce conflict. Congress has launched an attack against AAP, accusing it of graft, while AAP says Congress is taking BJP funds.

Delhi Assembly Election 2025: Plagued by a leadership crisis, the 'united opposition' front — INDIA — is falling apart. The AAP-vs-Congress war is turning more vicious than even the Congress-CPI(M) conflict (in Kerala) or the Congress-TMC conflict (in Bengal). The AAP vs Congress war ahead of the Delhi Assembly election 2025 has moved way beyond mudslinging as leaders of the Grand Old Party are approaching the police and the Lieutenant Governor to take on the ruling party.

How Congress Has Launched Full-Frontal Attack Against AAP

December 25 and 26 turned out to be quite eventful as the AAP "caught" the BJP doling out cash incentives to voters ostensibly to influence the result of the New Delhi constituency. On the same day, the Congress targeted the AAP and former CM Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of engaging in corruption.

Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken repeated the BJP's "sheeshmahal" allegation against Kejriwal. At a press conference organised to release a "white paper", Ajay Maken even called Arvind Kejriwal "anti-national".

The Youth Congress even lodged a police complaint against Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi CM Atishi, accusing them of misleading voters with a "fake scheme". The complaint came after the Women and Child Development department said it had not received any communication from the Delhi government regarding the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Scheme.

A day later, on December 26, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit approached Delhi L-G VK Saxena, alleging that the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab was routing cash in crores to Delhi for the elections. He sought the checking of all Punjab Police vehicles. Dikshit, who is going up against Kejriwal in the Delhi polls, also alleged that the AAP was using the Punjab Police to maintain surveillance on him.

AAP's Battle Against Two Foes

The AAP seems to be fighting the Delhi Assembly elections battle on two fronts — one against the BJP and another against its INDIA partner, Congress. As the AAP launched an all-out attack on the BJP over the "cash-for-votes" scam, the Congress's sharp attack seemed to catch it by surprise.

AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh pointed out that the AAP and Congress did not ally even in the Haryana polls, but his party did not speak against its INDIA partner. It said that the party would talk to others in the INDIA bloc to oust the Congress from the Opposition front if it failed to act against Maken and the Youth Congress.

The AAP refuted the Youth Congress's allegation. The party had earlier said there was an official Delhi Cabinet notification about the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, which promised to hike the allowance to eligible women from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100 after polls.

The AAP also accused the Congress of entering into a "tacit understanding" with the BJP for the Delhi elections and taking funds from the saffron party to fund its campaigns against Kejriwal.

Congress-AAP War Spills Out Of Delhi

Clearly, INDIA chairman and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has not joined the rift. However, Kharge has seldom spoken for the overall benefit of the INDIA bloc, which is a national alliance of Opposition parties. This led the constituents to enter a "go as you like" mode.

This became clear before the UP Assembly bypolls held last month. The Samajwadi Party, the second-largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha, simply bulldozed any aspirations of the Congress and fielded its candidates in all nine seats that were up for grabs.

Now, the brewing war between AAP and Congress units in Delhi, has spilled out. Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel also hit out at the AAP, saying it was Kejriwal's party that was funded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during the 2011 India Against Corruption protests in 2011-12.

Why Mallikarjun Kharge Is Not Holding INDIA Meets

With the Congress emerging as the largest party in the Lok Sabha, Kharge perhaps feels there is no need to hold meetings with the alliance members. While he has successfully led the Congress attack on the BJP at the national level, he has miserably failed in states.

His partial success as the chairman of the INDIA bloc came in Jammu & Kashmir when the combined forces of Omar Abdullah's NC and the Congress defeated the BJP. However, even Omar Abdullah is known to speak against the Congress from time to time. The other "success story" of the INDIA bloc came in Jharkhand where the JMM won 34 of 43 seats it contested and the Congress managed to rake in just 16 of the 30 seats it fought for.  

In the given situation, the only beneficiary of a war between the INDIA constituents would be the BJP.

Will The Congress Be Ousted From INDIA Bloc?

Considering that INDIA is more of a national alliance and the Congress's strength in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, it is unlikely that the party would be "osuted" from the Opposition alliance. The Congress doesn't even need the other parties to hang on to the Leader of Opposition's chair, currently held by Rahul Gandhi.

However, the Congress could be persuaded to give up the chairmanship of the INDIA bloc. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has already thrown her hat in the ring to lead the Opposition alliance. She also enjoys the support of Akhilesh Yadav's SP and Lalu Yadav's RJD. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena is also not opposed to her leadership.

A change in the chairmanship could refresh things for the Opposition alliance. Mamata is known to have good relations with other Oppostion leaders. In fact, before the Lok Sabha elections, it was Mamata and Nitish Kumar (now in the NDA) who set the ball rolling for the "united" Opposition front.

With her at the helm, INDIA may just find the "united" direction it is looking for. However, before that, Mamata will have to resolve her issues with the Congress and the Left in Bengal.