GHULAM NABI AZAD CLAIMS ONLY CONGRESS CAN CHALLENGE BJP IN HIMACHAL, GUJARAT POLLS; AAP NOT CAPABLE

Ghulam Nabi Azad, a former leader of the Congress, claimed on Sunday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is "merely a party of UT Delhi" and that only the Congress could compete with the BJP in the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

Azad said that he was not against the Congress party's secularism policy but rather its weak party system months after ending his decades-long association with it.

While talking to ANI at Srinagar, he said, “Although I have separated from Congress, I wasn’t against their policy of secularism. It was only due to the party’s system getting weakened. I would still want Congress to perform well in Gujarat and HP Assembly polls. AAP isn’t capable to do so.”

He exuded trust in the Congress and claimed that the party supports farmers of all faiths, including Muslims and Hindus. He claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party was powerless to create change in these states since it had failed in Punjab and its residents would not vote for it again.

In a scathing attack on Aam Aadmi Party, Azad said that it is ” AAP is merely a party of UT Delhi. They can’t run Punjab efficiently, only Congress can challenge BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as they have an inclusive policy.”

In response to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman's remark that the Center may be considering restoring J&K's State status, he stated that he has brought up this issue numerous times and that any action made by the Center Government would be applauded.

In the next days, Ghulam Nabi Azad will meet with numerous delegations and addressed many rallies while on a visit of Doda.

Ahead of schedule, on August 26, Azad ended his 52-year association with the Congress party. While Azad introduced his new political party, the Democratic Azad Party, in October.

He specifically called out Rahul Gandhi in his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi for the manner the party has been governed for the previous almost nine years.

Gujarat will hold two rounds of elections on December 1 and 5. Voter counts will be counted on December 8.

In Gujarat, the BJP has won six consecutive elections. In order to give candidates more time to campaign, the Congress is eager to make a choice about candidates as soon as possible. It also wants to strengthen its campaign through yatras.

Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National leader, is leading the party's campaign with full might this year, which has turned the election into a triangular battle.