"Existence of INDI bloc is in dark phase": BJP leader Prakash Reddy

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 11 (ANI): BJP leader Prakash Reddy on Tuesday came down heavily on the INDIA bloc, stating that the coalition is currently in its "dark phase," pointing at situation during the Delhi elections where the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress contested against each other despite being part of the alliance in the national front.
Reddy highlighted the analysis made by some political circles, noting that after the Delhi elections, the INDIA alliance may not participate together in upcoming elections.
He stated that the bloc has failed to contest elections together in various states, such as Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi, after the alliance had a decent run in Lok Sabha polls.
"After the Delhi elections, the political circles are analysing that there won't be any INDI alliance for any other elections in Indian politics... After the Parliament elections, INDI bloc could not contest together in J&K, Haryana, Maharashtra, and now in Delhi... The existence of INDI bloc is in a dark phase," Reddy said.
Furthermore, Reddy stated that these developments reflect a fragmentation of the alliance, pointing to recent comments from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who announced that her party, the Trinamool Congress, would contest the West Bengal elections independently, without aligning with any coalition.
He attributed the division within the alliance to the Congress party, claiming that regional parties are now choosing to contest elections on their own rather than as part of the alliance.
"Even Mamata Banerjee announced that she would contest West Bengal elections without any alliance. This indicated that the INDI bloc has broken... Because of Congress, all parties are deciding to contest alone, especially regional parties," Reddy added.
On February 8, when the Delhi poll results were announced, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took a jibe at the two INDIA bloc members, decrying the 'fighting' between Congress and AAP.
The senior leader of the National Conference, which is also part of the INDIA bloc, took to X, sharing a popular meme, which purportedly said, "Jee bhar kar lado. Samaapt kardo ek dusre ko!,"
He also captioned the post, "Aur lado aapas mein!!! (Fight amongst yourselves some more)."
Notably, the Jammu and Kashmir CM had earlier questioned the very existence of the INDIA bloc.
The BJP won a historic mandate in the Delhi polls on Saturday, returning to power in the national capital after 27 years by ousting AAP. It secured a two-thirds majority, bagging 48 out of 70 seats, while AAP's tally saw a massive drop to 22 from its previous tally of 62.
BJP's Parvesh Verma emerged as a giant-killer in the Assembly election with a decisive win of over 4,000 votes over former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi seat.
Atishi, however, retained the Kalkaji seat after a hard-fought contest and defeated BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri by a margin of 3,521 votes.
Congress, which was hoping for its revival in the national capital, again failed to win any seat. (ANI)