AAP, Congress Exchange Of Harsh Words Puts Question Mark On INDIA Bloc

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has taken a swipe at its INDIA bloc partner Congress over what he claimed was "terrible quality" of government schools in Chhattisgarh.

Election will be held in the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh this year.

Soon after Mr Kejriwal's comments, Congress leader Pawan Khera questioned Mr Kejriwal over the need for comparing Chhattisgarh with Delhi, when the comparison should be with the previous Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh.

The exchange reignited questions on unity about the newly formed opposition INDIA bloc, whose members include the AAP and the Congress.

One of the bragging rights that Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, has often openly shown is examples about how the AAP government in the national capital has improved infrastructure and quality of learning in state-run schools.

"I was reading a report that said government schools in Chhattisgarh are in terrible condition. They have closed many schools. There are schools in which there used to be 10 classes, but only teacher used to be there. Many teachers are not getting salaries too," Mr Kejriwal said at a public event in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur.

"Look at the condition of government schools in Delhi or ask your relatives who stay in Delhi. For the first time since Independence, a government has come that is doing so much for the education sector. We are not politicians, we are just common people like you," Mr Kejriwal said, referring to the ideology of the party that he co-founded, which drew its name from the Hindi word for a common man.

Mr Khera, responding to the AAP chief, said there was no need for Mr Kejriwal to come to Raipur.

"Why go to Raipur? Performance of our Chhattisgarh government will be compared with the previous Raman Singh govt. Let us choose a sector of your choice and compare the performance of the Congress government in Delhi vs your govt here. Ready for a debate?" Mr Khera said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Kejriwal at the Raipur event promised free electricity up to 300 units in Chhattisgarh if the AAP forms government. He was accompanied by party colleague and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

This was not the first time the two INDIA bloc members have exchanged passive-aggressive words on making plans for fighting state elections.

On Thursday, a statement by Congress leader Alka Lamba that the party has asked its leaders to prepare for a contest in all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi next year had raised a row with the AAP.

"We have been told how to prepare for the 2024 election. Before the Delhi meeting, the leadership has met our people in 18 states. It has been decided all Congress leaders will immediately go to work on the seven seats in Delhi to win them," Ms Lamba told news agency ANI. "Seven months are left. All party workers have been asked to prepare for all seven seats," she added.

Soon, Deepak Babaria, the Congress's in-charge of Delhi, stepped in to clarify after the AAP expressed "surprise" and questioned the need for the INDIA bloc if parties are going to go solo.

Mr Babaria said the comment was the leader's (Ms Lamba's) opinion and no plan on seat-sharing was discussed in the meeting. "We did not discuss that issue in today's meeting. The discussion was about how to strengthen the party in Delhi," Mr Babaria said.

Before Mr Babaria's clarification, the AAP appeared to have taken a view on the matter that could have implications on the INDIA alliance.

"The Congress leader's statement is very surprising. After such statements, what is the justification of the INDIA alliance? Arvind Kejriwal ji should decide on what to do next, which is important in the interest of the country. A decision should be taken," AAP leader Vinay Mishra told NDTV.

A section of the Delhi Congress is still sour over how the AAP suddenly came in the scene and decimated the Congress in the 2015 Delhi election. The AAP won 67 out of the 70 seats and the BJP took 3 seats. The Congress drew a blank then, which ended the party's 15-year rule of Delhi under former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary and party leader Ajay Maken, who attended a key party meeting called by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi, highlighted possible issues linked to an alliance with the AAP, news agency PTI reported.