Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced on Wednesday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will independently contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab during the upcoming general elections. Asserting the party’s commitment to creating history, Mann confirmed there would be no alliance with the Congress in the state.
The decision was reached following a crucial meeting of top leaders in Delhi on Saturday, where Mann conveyed to the party high command the potential political repercussions of forming an alliance with Punjab’s main opposition party, Congress.
Addressing queries about the AAP’s alliance with Congress in Chandigarh for the mayoral polls, Mann emphatically stated that the AAP would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats along with the Chandigarh seat independently. “Our voters will judge us based on our performance, and we aim to make history by securing all seats on our own,” he affirmed.
Chief Minister Mann outlined the process of selecting three candidates per constituency, with the best candidate ultimately being fielded in the polls.
The state leadership of the AAP, including Mann, has consistently opposed aligning with the Congress, citing the latter’s “corrupt” label by the ruling party in the past three years. The party believes that such an alliance could prove politically detrimental, potentially alienating voters and providing ammunition to other opposition parties.
The upcoming general elections are viewed as a crucial litmus test for the AAP to evaluate its performance and strategize for the subsequent rural and urban local body polls after the general election.
