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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal has said that the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party have announced support to his party in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.
Mr Kejriwal, who is the former Chief Minister of Delhi, also hit out at the Congress for "partnering" with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) discreetly.
All the four parties - AAP, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Congress - are partners in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and had jointly fought the Lok Sabha elections last year.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Mr Kejriwal said he is "personally grateful" to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Chairperson of the Trinamool Congress, for extending her support.
"TMC has announced support to AAP in Delhi elections. I am personally grateful to Mamata Didi. Thank you Didi. You have always supported and blessed us in our good and bad times," the former Delhi Chief Minister said.
TMC has announced support to AAP in Delhi elections. I am personally grateful to Mamta Didi. Thank you Didi. U have always supported and blessed us in our good and bad times.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 8, 2025
Minutes later, Trinamool's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien responded to Mr Kejriwal's post, saying: "We have your back @AamAadmiParty."
On Tuesday night, Mr Kejriwal extended his gratitude to Samajwadi President President Akhilesh Yadav for his party's support to the AAP in next month's polls. "Thank you very much Akhilesh ji. You always support and stand with us. I and the people of Delhi are grateful for this," he wrote in Hindi on the micro-blogging platform, as he shared a news report claiming that the SP will support the AAP in the polls.
There was no public statement or announcement either from Mr Yadav or the Samajwadi Party on the matter but sources said that he expressed his intent to support the AAP, after a press conference on Tuesday.
बहुत बहुत शुक्रिया अखिलेश जी। आपका हमेशा हमें सपोर्ट और साथ रहता है। इसके लिए मैं और दिल्ली की जनता आभारी हैं। https://t.co/as58s2ksDt
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 7, 2025
The Trinamool and the Samajwadi Party had thrown their weight behind the AAP in the 2020 Delhi assembly elections as well.
Mr O'Brien had uploaded, on X, a video endorsing not just Mr Kejriwal as Chief Minister but all AAP candidates.
As the AAP swept the 2020 elections, Mr Yadav congratulated Mr Kejriwal on the big win.
Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal hit out at the Congress after its leader, Ashok Gehlot claimed that AAP leaders are delusional about its victory in the next month's polls.
"They are our opposition. It's their misconception that just because they have won the previous two elections, they will repeat their performance this time. The Congress is campaigning well and we know that the results will be good this time," Mr Gehlot said.
Hitting back, Mr Kejriwal said the Congress has made it clear that the "AAP is its opposition in Delhi". "People also felt that AAP is the opposition for Congress and BJP is its partner. People also believed that BJP and Congress are fighting the elections together against AAP. Till now this cooperation between you two was secret. Today you have made it public. Thank you on behalf of the people of Delhi," the AAP National Convenor wrote on X.
Both the AAP and the Congress have been locked in an intense battle, over various issues, for quite some time. Though the two parties fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Delhi under the INDIA bloc, they are fighting the assembly elections separately.
The two parties had blamed one another for the poll debacle in the Capital during the parliamentary elections.
Last month, Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken's remarks that a tie-up with the AAP during the Lok Sabha polls was a "mistake" further worsened relations between the allies. The AAP said it will ask other members of the INDIA bloc to remove the Congress from the alliance, if the latter does not act against Mr Maken for his remarks.
Voting for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held in a single phase on February 5 and the results will be announced on February 8.
The Congress, which was in power for 15 consecutive years in Delhi, suffered setbacks in the last two assembly elections and failed to win any seat. In contrast, the AAP dominated the 2020 assembly elections by winning 62 out of 70 seats while the BJP got only eight seats.