Fissures within the INDIA opposition bloc continued apace Wednesday morning after the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress threw their weight behind the Aam Aadmi Party - and seemed to criticise the Congress, the group head - before the February 5 Delhi Assembly election.
The AAP and the Congress are contesting this election independently, a development that has fuelled further speculation about the survival of an INDIA bloc that put up a strong showing in last year's Lok Sabha poll, but has since slipped to multiple state poll defeats and bitter infighting.
That infighting - specifically between the AAP and the Congress - bubbled over into demands by the former that the latter be sacked as bloc leader and booted from the alliance. This was after harsh comments by the Congress' Delhi leader, Ajay Maken, targeting AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal.
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"The SP... Congress... AAP. All of us want to win in Delhi. We want this alliance to continue... the AAP is in a strong position in Delhi... but it has become AAP vs Congress in Delhi," SP boss Akhilesh Yadav lamented, "It is my suggestion the INDIA bloc should support the AAP..."
Mr Yadav also pointed out that INDIA bloc members had said they would support local, or regional, parties wherever they might stand a better chance of defeating the BJP. "When alliance was formed it was said, 'wherever local party is strong, INDIA will strengthen it. AAP is strong in Delhi... that is why Samajwadi Party has given its support..." Mr Yadav said, "Our aim is BJP should be defeated..."
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Speaking for Bengal's ruling Trinamool, senior leader Abhishek Banejee made the same point, and referred to Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, another INDIA bloc member.
"When INDIA bloc was formed, we decided that wherever regional parties are strong (we will) let them take the fight to the BJP. For example, DMK in Tamil Nadu and JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) in Jharkhand. So, in Delhi, who do you think can beat BJP? It is AAP," Mr Banerjee said.
The DMK and JMM examples are pertinent for, in each case, the Congress has taken a backseat.
In Tamil Nadu the Congress played second fiddle to the DMK in the 2021 Assembly election and last year's Lok Sabha poll, and the INDIA bloc members dominated in each instance. Over in Jharkhand, in the November state election the JMM, backed by the Congress, scored a big win over the BJP.
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It isn't just Mr Yadav and Mr Banerjee who have spoken out in favour of the INDIA bloc over rivalry between its constituents. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah last week underlined the alliance as "permanent". "... it is for every day and every moment," he declared. The NC was allied with the Congress for last year's Jammu and Kashmir election, which it won with no help from the larger party.
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Allies on paper, the AAP and the Congress have fallen foul of each other since the Haryana election in October last year, for which the two failed to agree a seat sharing deal. The Congress was then routed by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Haryana disaster drew jabs from the SP and Trinamool, both of whom made pointed reference to their own failed seat-share talks with the bloc head.
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And, fuelled by similar spats - including for Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats in the April-June federal election - the Congress and the AAP confirmed in December they will be rivals this time around.
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