Taking another apparent jab at the INDIA alliance, and particularly the Congress and the AAP, after early leads pointed to a BJP sweep in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has made a social media post saying “aur lado” (fight some more).
After leads showed the BJP winning nearly 50 of Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats, the National Conference leader posted a GIF which said “aur lado, jee bhar ke lado, samapt kar do ek dusre ko” (fight some more, fight to your heart’s content, finish each other off). In his text with the GIF, Mr Abdullah underlined the message, writing: “aur lado aapas mein” (fight each other some more).
Despite contesting the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance in Delhi, the Congress and the AAP decided to fight the Assembly elections separately. Leaders from both parties also did not shy away from attacking each other, even accusing the other of being a “B-team” of the BJP.
The parties decided not to have an alliance despite the Congress suffering a humiliating defeat in Haryana – a state it was widely expected to win given that the BJP had been in power there since 2014 and was perceived to be facing anti-incumbency – partly because it did not partner with the AAP. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party was seen to have played spoilsport for the Congress in at least half a dozen of the state’s 90 Assembly seats. The Congress eventually ended up winning in just 37 constituencies.
