Delhi Assembly polls: Akhilesh Yadav, SP MPs to campaign for AAP

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to campaign for AAP candidates in Delhi Assembly polls, alienating Congress further.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav along with his party MPs will campaign for the AAP candidates ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls on February 5, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party said on Tuesday (January 28, 2025).

Mr. Yadav will join AAP supremo Mr. Kejriwal in a roadshow in Rithala on January 30. Several other MPs of the Uttar Pradesh-based party, including Iqra Hasan from Kairana, will also campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party.

The AAP and the SP are part of the INDIA bloc which also includes the Congress. However, the SP leaders will only be campaigning for the AAP which is pitted against the Congress and the BJP in Delhi.

The move reflects further alienation of the Congress within the Indian Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) led by it during the Lok Sabha polls last year.

The AAP and the Congress — sharing four and three of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi — had fought together against the BJP in last year's general elections but are pitted against each another in the Assembly polls.

Fissures appeared in the opposition alliance last year when several parties in it supported the idea of TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee heading the grouping, currently led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Mr. Kejriwal, without expressing his support for Ms. Banerjee, had said that the INDIA bloc leaders could take a call over the issue after discussions.