The Delhi election result is a greater defeat for the unity of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) than for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alone, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan recently told media persons. He added that the AAP and Congress should have contested together, without letting egoism get in the way.
Votes for the Delhi Assembly elections were counted on February 8. The AAP won only 22 out of 70 seats, propelling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a victory in the national capital after a historic 27 years. The Congress, meanwhile, drew a blank.
“The INDIA bloc needs to learn lessons from this defeat. Both the Congress and AAP are a part of the INDIA bloc. They should have conducted talks and contested together. But they stood separately simply because of ego issues and have lost votes. Whether it is an Assembly election or general elections, the INDIA bloc needs to contest together. That is the only way we can defeat the BJP’s politics,” Thirumavalavan said.
Referring to the Congress’ past victories in Delhi elections, he added, “It is sad that today they have been pushed to a situation where they cannot win even one seat. This is a critical time for the party to introspect. Congress must work with state parties, without ego, and with the aim of stopping the BJP’s fascist, sanatana dharma ideologies. That is what the people of the country expect from them.”
Thirumavalavan reiterated this stance in an exclusive interview to the Tamil news channel Puthiyathalaimurai on February 10. In the interview, he added, “The AAP is a young party. It is the Congress that is the senior, national party. The Congress is in a place of responsibility. I believe that the only way the Congress can rise again at the national level is if they let go of egoism, make compromises and form alliances with various state parties.”