"AAP will contest elections in Bihar solo," announces Arvind Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced his party's decision to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections solo, clarifying that the alliance with the Opposition's INDIA bloc was limited to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and now stands dissolved. Addressing a press conference in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Kejriwal stated, "We will contest the upcoming Bihar elections. There is no alliance with Congress... The INDIA bloc was only for the general elections. There is no alliance now."

This declaration comes after a "decent show" by AAP in recent bypolls in Gujarat and Punjab, where the party secured the Visavadar and Ludhiana Assembly seats respectively. These victories have served as a morale booster for the AAP, particularly after facing a significant setback in its traditional stronghold of Delhi earlier this year, where it lost control of the national capital to the BJP after nearly 27 years. In the Delhi Assembly polls, AAP failed to retain several crucial seats, including those held by prominent leaders.

Reacting to Kejriwal's expansion plans, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is part of the ruling coalition in Bihar, questioned the AAP chief's political relevance beyond Punjab, where the party currently governs. BJP national spokesperson Ajay Alok, speaking from Patna, remarked, "Biharis and Purvanchalis shaved off Arvind Kejriwal's head in Delhi and drove him out of Delhi, but that was not enough for him." He added, "If Kejriwal comes to Bihar, he will understand his political standing. Welcome to Bihar." Despite the Delhi rout, AAP's continued governance in Punjab and recent bypoll successes appear to have emboldened its decision to test the complex political landscape of Bihar, known for its intricate caste dynamics.