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Lok Sabha elections 2019: AAP to contest in 3 seats in Haryana, ally JJP in seven
The candidates are yet to be shortlisted. The parties said a committee has been set up to decide who will contest from which constituency, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said at a press briefing in Delhi’s Constitution Club.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) on Friday announced a tie-up for all 10 seats in Haryana for the upcoming general elections. AAP will contest from three seats in the state while JJP will fight from seven, senior leaders of both the parties said.
The candidates are yet to be shortlisted. The parties said a committee has been set up to decide who will contest from which constituency, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said at a press briefing in Delhi’s Constitution Club.
On Friday, Hindustan Times had reported about the tie-up between the two parties. AAP is confident about fielding candidates in four seats – Gurugram, Faridabad, Ambala and Karnal.
“Details of the seat sharing will be clear in another 48 to 72 hours. The candidates will be fielded in a balanced away across north, south and central Haryana. We have set up a committee for that,” Chautala said.
When asked what would happen to the tie-up when Haryana goes to the assembly polls later this year, he said the alliance would continue even after the Lok Sabha elections.
Haryana goes to the polls in a single phase on May 12.
According to AAP leader Gopal Rai, the Jind assembly bypolls earlier this year helped the two parties to decide on forging an alliance. Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had defeated Chautala by a margin of 12,228 votes, it reflected that AAP’s support to the JJP helped it give a tough fight to the BJP.
The Congress had fielded senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala from Jind. He stood third in the bypolls.
Both Rai and Chautala said they would primarily target the youth. There are no jobs in the state and, according to them, their frustrations can be used to channelise votes against the BJP.
“Hence, we take the Aam (common) from AAP and the Jan (people) from the Jannayak to make it a campaign of the election of the common people,” said Chautala, in the presence of scores of AAP and JJP workers. “Both the broom [party symbol of the AAP] and the slippers [party symbol of the JJP] will sweep out negativities out of Haryana,” he said.
Rai and Chautala criticised the Congress and the BJP. “It is time to fight against BJP’s hate politics, which has divided Haryana over religion and caste. And it is certain that the Congress is incapable of doing so,” Chautala said.
When asked, in that case, why was AAP trying to forge an alliance with the Congress in multiple states, Rai said: “Narendra Modi and the BJP’s dictatorship has created an emergency-like situation. So, despite having differences with the Congress over issues, we still agreed to join hands with them to save the nation.”
