New Delhi, June 8 -- The absence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the DMK from the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Monday highlighted growing strains within the opposition alliance, with both parties publicly stating that they were no longer part of the grouping.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the party had already made its position clear and therefore had no reason to attend the meeting. "We have clarified several times that AAP is no longer part of the INDIA alliance. Therefore, the question of attending its meeting does not arise," he told reporters. Singh also said the parties attending the meeting should first spell out the agenda and issues under discussion. Referring to reports of differences within the alliance, he claimed such narratives were often promoted by BJP supporters and should not be given undue importance.
AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar also ruled out any future alliance with the Congress, alleging that the party had contested the Delhi Assembly elections primarily to weaken AAP.
In Chennai, DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan said his party, too, was no longer part of the INDIA bloc, blaming the Congress for the split. He said several parties had already distanced themselves from the alliance and the DMK had taken a similar decision.
Elangovan described the Congress joining the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government in Tamil Nadu after the elections as a "betrayal" that had hurt DMK workers. He said the party would take future political decisions independently through its own committees. At the same time, he said a "strong, secular, and anti-BJP alliance" could emerge in the future and that the DMK would assess whether there was common ground with other opposition parties.
CPI state secretary M Veerapandian, however, urged the DMK to remain within the INDIA bloc and called for strengthening opposition unity at the national level.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.