AAP welcomes Lok Sabha polls announcement, Kejriwal asks public to vote against 'dictatorship'

New Delhi: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday appealed to the public to vote against "dictatorship and hooliganism" as his party said people had been "desperately" waiting for the general elections.

Welcoming the announcement of Lok Sabha poll dates, the AAP also accused the BJP of violating the Constitution and trying to crush democracy during its 10-year rule.

In a post in Hindi on X, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal appealed to the people to vote for AAP candidates.

"The dates of Lok Sabha polls in the country have been declared. It's a great festival of democracy. I appeal to all the countrymen to vote this time against dictatorship and hooliganism," he said.

"The AAP works for real issues of the people and facilitates them. Strengthen our hands by voting on 'jhaadu (broom, the AAP's election symbol)' wherever our candidates are contesting the polls, so that we can work for you with more energy," Kejriwal, the party's national convenor, added.

Lok Sabha polls will be held across the country in seven phases, beginning April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4 for the world's biggest election exercise in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bid for a third consecutive term.

During a press conference earlier, Gopal Rai -- the AAP's Delhi unit convenor -- said his party and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) are ready to fight the Lok Sabha polls with full strength.

"The way BJP has violated the Constitution and tried to crush the democracy in the country in the last 10 years of its rule, even the people were desperately waiting for the elections," he said, welcoming the declaration of poll dates.

It's an opportunity for the people to express their pain during the last 10 years of BJP rule, Rai said.

Voting for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi will be held on May 25.

Notification for the polls will be issued on April 29.

In Delhi, the AAP and the Congress have entered a seat-sharing agreement. The AAP has fielded its candidates from the East Delhi, South Delhi, New Delhi and the West Delhi seats. The Congress is yet to announce its candidates from the three seats it is contesting in the national capital -- Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi and North West Delhi.

Rai said the Congress should also declare its candidates quickly to facilitate a unified campaign by the INDIA bloc.

The BJP, the main rival of the AAP-Congress combine in Delhi, has already declared candidates for the seven seats.

Apart from Delhi, the AAP is contesting two seats in Gujarat and one in Haryana in an alliance with the Congress. However, it is independently contesting 13 seats in Punjab and two in Assam.

Rai said the party has already launched its poll campaigns in Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana.