New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party is "fishing" in the Congress' waters for "strong candidates" before the 2025 Delhi election, sources told NDTV Thursday. The focus, sources said, is on stymying that party's revival - notwithstanding a national-level alliance between the two INDIA bloc partners - in the city.
The AAP and the Congress managed to find common ground for the April-June federal election but have been unable to agree deals since for state polls. The most recent example of this was last month's Haryana election, which the Congress lost amid criticism its state unit refused to share seats.
Meanwhile, AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal will personally run point on his party's solo bid to win a third consecutive Delhi Assembly election, sources said. The ex-Chief Minister - who resigned September after (finally) securing bail in the alleged liquor policy scam - will "micro-manage" the re-election bid.
That bid that began this afternoon with an early first list of 11 candidates. Three political leaders on that list are recent inductions from the Congress. The other three joined from the BJP.
READ | In AAP's Delhi Polls First List, 6 Of 11 Candidates Are Defectors
Mr Kejriwal, sources also said, is reviewing each of Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies and the performance of each of the party's lawmakers, of whom 62 were elected and 58 remain.
The game plan could see sitting MLAs dropped to counter the anti-incumbency factor.
Three sitting MLAs have already been dropped in that first list - Gulab Singh (Matiala), Ritu Raj Jha (Kirari), and Abdul Rehman (Seelampur) have been dropped for Sumesh Shoukeen (from the Congress), Anil Jha (from the BJP), and Zubair Choudhary (also from the Congress).
Survey teams have been tasked with generating feedback from each seat and prep a shortlist of possible candidates; this includes new faces from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Last week Mr Kejriwal called the 2025 Delhi election a 'dharamyudh', or 'battle for justice', and compared it to a similar battle in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. "They (the BJP) have money and power... like the Kauravas... but God and the people are with us, as they were with the Pandavas," he declared.
And 10 days before that the former Chief Minister kickstarted the campaign with tried-and-tested promises - to waive "inflated" electricity and water bills issued while he was in Delhi's Tihar Jail.
The AAP has quite the battle on its hands to win the 2025 election.
The party has been criticised by the BJP, and even Congress, on various issues, including the annual air quality crisis in Delhi and the poor condition of infrastructure in the national capital.
The BJP has also attacked the AAP on issues like pollution in the Yamuna River and over allegations the 'aamaadmi' party spent Rs 45 crore to renovate the Chief Minister's bungalow.
READ | BJP, With Gahlot At Fore, Launches 'Sheeshmahal' Protest Against AAP
Dubbed the 'sheeshmahal' controversy, the BJP held a massive protest on this issue outside the bungalow in question - in Delhi's Civil Lines area - this morning. Significantly, those protests were headlined by the saffron party's newest high-profile recruit - ex-AAP leader Kailash Gahlot.
The AAP has also been battered over the alleged liquor policy scam, in connection with which then Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Mr Kejriwal, as also Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, were both arrested. The BJP had targeted Mr Kejriwal and demanded his resignation.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.