Ahead of Haryana polls, impasse on AAP-Cong tie-up continues
AAP and Congress are in talks for a Haryana assembly alliance, but consensus remains elusive. AAP is prepared to contest all seats if needed.
While the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have so far failed to reach a consensus on seat sharing for the upcoming Haryana assembly polls, AAP MP Raghav Chadha on Saturday said an alliance may be finalised soon.
Following a meeting with Congress leaders on Saturday evening to discuss alliance possibilities, Chadha said: “I hope it (alliance) will be finalised, Ummeed pe duniya kayam hai.”
His comments came hours after AAP general secretary Sandeep Pathak told mediapersons that those underestimating the party “will repent in the future”.
Pathak said party workers are ready to contest alone on all seats and are only waiting for directions from the party leadership. “We are ready to contest the election on all seats with all our strength. Whoever underestimates us will repent in future. From AAP, volunteers, and leadership I can say that we are completely ready (to contest alone). We are waiting for the word ‘go’ from the party. We will make all announcements (of candidates) soon,” he said.
The remarks that appeared to be a bargaining tactic came a day after Chadha said on Friday that the party is in talks with the Congress and “every possible effort is being made” for an alliance for the October 5 polls.
Pathak, on Saturday, refuted reports of the two parties reaching an agreement that the AAP will only contest five seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly.
“The news about seats continues to appear in the media every day… I do not have any such information,” he said.
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Alliance talks between the AAP and the Congress began on Tuesday, but no major breakthrough has been achieved even after several rounds of discussions.
According to people familiar with the matter, while AAP is ready for an alliance, a section of Haryana-based Congress leaders has expressed reservations over such a tie-up.
The AAP has sought 10 seats, even as the Congress has only offered seven, AAP functionaries said.
AICC in-charge of Haryana, Deepak Babaria, who was present at the meeting with Chadha on Saturday evening, did not respond to requests for comments.
To be sure, both parties allied for the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat earlier this year as part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
In the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP failed to win the sole Kurukshetra seat it fought in Haryana under a pact with the Congress as part of the INDIA bloc. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party, however, saw a rise in its vote share since 2014, when it made its poll debut in the state.
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The Congress, on the other hand, won five of the nine seats it contested in the Lok Sabha elections. The AAP has never won any Lok Sabha or assembly seat in Haryana.
Reacting to speculation of the AAP-Congress alliance in Haryana, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said the INDIA bloc lacks mission and vision.
“INDI alliance has no mission and vision. They have their own ambitions and operate through their confusion and they have obsession with Modi. They want to protect their corruption. That’s why they form an alliance in some places, however, it breaks later on. In Punjab, AAP and Congress are against each other. In Delhi, they were together earlier. And now there are uncertainties (between AAP and Congress) in Haryana,” he said.
Polling in Haryana will take place on October 5 while counting of votes for the elections to the 90-member assembly will take place on October 8.