AAP says no tie-up with Congress for Delhi assembly elections, INDIA bloc was for Lok Sabha contest

AAP leader Gopal Rai said, "It was clear from the first day that the INDIA alliance was formed for Lok Sabha polls. We fought the elections together.

"As far as the assembly elections are concerned, no alliance has yet been formed. AAP will fight in the polls with its full strength."

In response, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav too echoed the same words.

Yadav said, "We tried to form an alliance for Lok Sabha polls. A number of like-minded parties came together to save democracy. AAP and Congress fought in the elections together with good coordination.

"I am happy that people have also accepted it. But it was clear that the alliance was formed for Lok Sabha polls."

Quite contrary to how the Opposition has formed in several states including BJP's bastion Uttar Pradesh, the INDIA alliance failed to make a mark in Delhi in the Lok Sabha polls drawing a blank.

The BJP swept all 7 seats of Delhi, which will go to polls in 2025.

As far as the Delhi assembly is concerned, AAP has a brute majority with 62 out of 70 MLAs.

Though the two parties didn't form an alliance in Punjab, the Congress won 7 seats and AAP 6 seats out of 13 seats in the north Indian state.

Modi 3.0 with a weaker mandate and strings

Narendra Modi on Tuesday returned for a rare third consecutive term in office with his allies, but fell short of an absolute majority for his BJP, in an election that gave a new lease of life to a Congress-led disparate Opposition bloc- INDIA-  as the anti-Modi union halted the saffron juggernaut to under 300.

Modi, who is set to be the second Prime Minister after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to return to office for third consecutive term, had kickstarted the campaign for his BJP setting the target for 370 seats and 400 for the NDA alliance.

Quite contrary to the "Abki bar 400 par" or "400 plus seats this time" slogan, Modi's BJP failed to achieve the majority mark (272) on its own, paving way for a return of a coalition government trend after a decade.

In what would trigger the debate of anti-incumbency setting in, Modi's BJP could manage to get to 240 while NDA touched 292, a comfortable figure to run the government but at the mercy of regional parties like TDP, JDU.

As a slew of exit polls that gave a clear majority to Modi proved wrong, even in the win of the NDA, the celebrations are louder in the  INDIA Bloc after they bagged a higher than expected number of seats. The INDIA bloc has won 234 seats, offering a tough fight to the incumbent.

Though several political pundits, opinion and exit polls had almost written off the Opposition, Congress (99 seats) led INDIA comprising several key regional players in offering a close contest to the incumbent.

After BJP stopped at 240 odd seats, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar emerged as the key players in forming the next government, which is expected to be headed by Modi again considering his number.