'Kejriwal will lend support to MVA': AAP opts out of contesting in Maharashtra polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided not to participate in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, as announced by party leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday.

Instead, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal will lend his support to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition by campaigning for their candidates. The MVA coalition is made up of Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar's NCP-SP, and the Congress. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said on X, "In the Maharashtra elections, the party's National Convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, will campaign for the MVA candidates. Aam Aadmi Party will not contest elections in Maharashtra."

Sources within the AAP, quoted by news agency PTI, revealed that both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP-SP reached out to the party, requesting Kejriwal's participation in the Maharashtra campaign. Additionally, Kejriwal is expected to campaign for the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by Hemant Soren, in the upcoming Jharkhand assembly polls.

Maharashtra, which has 288 assembly seats, is scheduled to hold its elections on November 20. Jharkhand, on the other hand, will conduct polling in two phases on November 13 and 20. The counting of votes for both states will take place on November 23.

The AAP and the MVA constituents are members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coalition formed in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to challenge the BJP. In the Lok Sabha polls, the AAP formed alliances with the Congress, the largest member of the INDIA bloc, in Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana. However, the party contested independently in Punjab.

In the recent Haryana assembly elections, the AAP contested independently but failed to secure any seats.