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The tie-ups between the two parties have not been a happy topic for many leaders, particularly in the Congress. They have been vocal against AAP and its leadership time and again
There was speculation that AAP and Congress were discussing a possible tie-up for the 2025 Delhi assembly polls. However, the Aam Aadmi Party later made it clear that it would contest the elections alone. (File image: PTI)
Crisis and survival instincts make people and groups take unusual decisions. In politics, it happens when arch-rivals join hands. It is not common but also not unheard of.
The relationship between Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the opposition Congress is also based on the need for survival.
Inception in 2013
AAP rose to power in 2013, ending the 15-year term of Sheila Dikshit and Congress in Delhi. However, to get on the chief minister’s chair, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal took the help of the Congress—the same party he railed against during the assembly poll campaign.
It was a short-lived government, not because the Congress withdrew support but because Kejriwal resigned in less than two months over the inability to present the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi assembly. However, this was not the end of the two parties coming together. It happened later as well, but statistics suggest there is no magic even if they join hands.
The tie-ups between the two parties have not been a happy topic for many leaders, particularly in the Congress. They have been vocal against AAP and its leadership time and again.
As the year 2024 comes to an end, the two parties seem to be on opposing sides again as the national capital gets ready for the 2025 assembly polls.
The latest fight started after Congress leader Ajay Maken on Wednesday said the downfall of his party started after it decided to support AAP in 2013. He also released a white paper on “11 years of corrupt rule by the Aam Aadmi Party”.
A day later, AAP demanded disciplinary action against Maken within 24 hours, saying if no step was taken, it would push for Congress’s expulsion from the opposition INDIA bloc.
Since 2013-2014, the Congress has not had much electoral luck in most parts of the country. However, it is the second-largest party in the Lok Sabha after the ruling BJP.
Alliances without much electoral success
The last time the Congress and AAP joined hands was for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Out of the seven Lok Sabha seats, the Congress contested three and AAP got four. But the parties failed to win anything as the BJP made a clean sweep.
The Congress and AAP collectively bagged 38.46 lakh votes, while the BJP alone secured 48.60 lakh votes in Delhi. It was more than the votes they got together in 2019—35.24 lakh. That year, the BJP bagged 49.08 lakh votes.
In 2019, despite being united against the Bharatiya Janata Party under the Mahagathbandhan, AAP and Congress did not contest the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi as allies, and the BJP took away all the seats.
In 2024, Haryana also had polls. AAP and Congress did not tie up, and the BJP emerged victorious. They also had no alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir elections. Here, the National Conference came to power, backed by the Congress.
There was speculation that AAP and Congress were discussing a possible tie-up for the 2025 Delhi assembly polls. However, the Aam Aadmi Party later made it clear that it would contest the polls alone.
“There is no possibility of any alliance with Congress,” Kejriwal said this month.
The reason for not joining hands for the assembly polls becomes clear if we look at the performances of the two parties in the 2015 and 2020 elections in Delhi.
Out of the 70 assembly seats in Delhi, Kejriwal and his party won more than 60 in both 2015 and 2020, while the Congress drew a blank.
As per an AAP leader, there is no reason for his party, which is expecting a similar result this time, to extend a helping hand to the Congress.
“We are very much capable of winning the elections in Delhi on our own. And the victory this time will be similar to the last two elections,” the leader said, requesting anonymity.
For the Congress, which is aiming to gain some ground in Delhi, the 2025 polls seem to be a crucial juncture after being out of the assembly for more than a decade.
