The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been constantly switching its positions. After contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together with the Congress, AAP severed its ties with the INDIA bloc.
Soon after, its leaders came back to support the Opposition on “electoral fraud” against the BJP and subsequently amplified Rahul Gandhi’s claims of “vote chori”.
Now, it has again taken a different route by targeting the same Gandhis and seeking punitive action against them in the National Herald case. Analysts say that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has also sent out a message to align its cadre against the primary Opposition Congress party in Punjab.
Recently, Kejriwal launched an unexpected attack on its former electoral partner Congress, targeting the Gandhi family by claiming that none of them went to jail in the "open and shut" National Herald case and alleged a nexus between the BJP and the grand old party.
#WATCH | Delhi: "... As per facts, National Herald looks like an open and shut case. We were jailed as per absolutely fake cases, but no one from the Gandhi family went to jail...," says AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
— ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2025
He further says, "... Congress has compromised the… pic.twitter.com/BkVp9CshVz
Addressing party leaders at a function, he said that the AAP would not compromise on its politics as the party was working for the nation and not entering politics for forming a coalition or anything else.
Punjab showdown in sight
As Punjab heads toward the February 2027 assembly elections, Kejriwal’s statement sees battle lines sharply drawn between the ruling AAP and the resurgent Congress.
Party leaders believe that being a part of the INDIA bloc led by Congress at the national level—or posing as a neutral entity—could confuse its voters and its cadre in Punjab, where it is the ruling party.
State politics vs national ambitions
However, the party is also looking at the greater picture where it understands that hanging on to the coat-tails of the Congress-led Opposition would hurt its expansionist pursuits in Goa and Gujarat, where it already has a growing cadre and few legislators.
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“When a party has a growing cadre and expanding bases, it first focuses on the clarity of stance,” a political observer said.
“Kejriwal seems to have established his clear stance by vehemently opposing both the national parties. As earlier it was seen as swinging from one political pitch to another.”
The Gujarat factor
As the party expands its bases in Gujarat, Congress leaders in the state allege that the BJP deliberately gave up the Visavadar assembly constituency to keep AAP alive in the state at a time when it was on the decline after the defeat in the Delhi elections.
“The BJP fielded a weak candidate so that AAP could get an edge, win the election, and slow down the Congress party in future,” a Congress leader said.
Analysts believe that both AAP and Congress are competing for the secular and anti-BJP vote, and if AAP survived, it would continue to hurt Congress while indirectly helping the BJP retain power in Gujarat.
Uneasy friendships and backroom understandings
Interestingly, the Congress leadership and AAP brass still got in touch regarding Lok Sabha elections as well as Haryana elections to discuss seat sharing.
In the Lok Sabha, they agreed on seat sharing, but in Haryana, the Congress and AAP contested separately. The tensions between the two increased after Congress leaders blamed the AAP for cutting into their votes in Haryana and causing its defeat in several assembly seats.
Later on in Delhi, both the parties chose to contest separately. In one instance during an election campaign, Ajay Maken even set out with documents in hand to prove how Arvind Kejriwal was an anti-national.
However, just before his press conference, Kejriwal managed to reach out to Congress' leadership through a top leader and convinced the grand old party to cancel the press conference.
