New Delhi:
There is no clarity about INDIA alliance’s leadership or agenda and the Opposition bloc must be dissolved if it was just formed for the Parliament election last year, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today.
The National Conference leader was responding to a question on Delhi Assembly polls, which is witnessing a three-cornered fight between the AAP, BJP and the Congress. Interestingly, the AAP and the Congress tied up for the Lok Sabha election months back.
#WATCH | Jammu: J&K CM Omar Abdullah says, “… I cannot say anything about what’s going on in Delhi because we have nothing to do with Delhi Elections… As far as I remember, there was no time limit to the INDIA alliance. Unfortunately, no INDIA alliance meeting is being… pic.twitter.com/u9w9FazeJG
— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2025
“I cannot say anything about this because we have nothing to do with Delhi elections. AAP, Congress and the other parties on the ground must decide how to combat the BJP… As far as I remember, there was no time limit to the INDIA alliance. Unfortunately, no INDIA alliance meeting is being organised so there is no clarity about leadership, agenda, or our (INDIA bloc’s) existence… They should wind up the alliance in case it was just for the Parliament elections..,” Mr Abdullah told news agency ANI in reply to a question on the Delhi election and INDIA alliance.
Over the past few weeks, leaders of the AAP and Congress have been targeting each other in their campaign for the capital contest. While Congress leaders have accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of corruption and poor governance, AAP has alleged that the Congress is hand-in-glove with the BJP.
Questions regarding the future of INDIA bloc and its leadership have emerged in the months following the general election, which saw a united Opposition make big gains.
In the aftermath of the Congress suffering poll setbacks, questions have also been raised if the main opposition party should lead the INDIA bloc. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has offered to lead the bloc if given an opportunity and several partners have backed her.
Earlier, Mr Abdullah had said that the Congress must not take the leadership for granted. “By virtue of being the single largest party in Parliament, and also having the leader of opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the fact that they have a pan-India footprint, which no other party can lay claim to, they are natural sort of leaders of an opposition movement,” Mr Abdullah said. “Yet there is a sense of disquiet among some of the allies because they feel the Congress is “not doing enough to justify it or to earn it or to keep it. That’s something the Congress might wish to consider,” he said.
