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Lok Sabha elections 2019: ‘Accepted Congress plan for tie-up in Haryana’: AAP
“We have communicated we are fine with the proposal. We are awaiting Congress’ response,” Rai said, adding that the party had postponed the date three of its seven Lok Sabha candidates from Delhi file their nominations.
The AAP Friday announced that it had accepted one of Congress’s proposals for an alliance formula to share seats in the Lok Sabha elections, reviving their on-again, off-again discussions that began more than four months ago and at one point even triggered a social media spat between its leaders as both sides drove a hard bargain for seats.
AAP’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai said the party accepted the Congress’s offer for a 7:2:1 seat-sharing arrangement in Haryana, where the Congress will take the largest share, leaving two for the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and one for the AAP.
“We have communicated we are fine with the proposal. We are awaiting Congress’ response,” Rai said, adding that the party had postponed the date three of its seven Lok Sabha candidates from Delhi file their nominations.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have acknowledged that a partnership was vital to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but their parties have been unable to agree on the specifics such as who will contest which and how many seats. Some of the contentious issues have been AAP’s insistence that the alliance be expanded to outside of Delhi into regions like Haryana, and the Congress’s demand for more seats in Delhi.
Friday’s announcement comes a day after the AAP named three constituencies from which it could contest elections in Haryana and its ally the JJP went on to name candidates from four of seven constituencies from which it could contest. The AAP and the JJP had officially announced an alliance in Haryana last week, without the Congress.
In Delhi, one AAP candidate, Balbeer Singh Jhakhar, has filed nomination from the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat. While three candidates were supposed to file their nominations Saturday, the remaining were supposed to file Monday. “Now, all the remaining six candidates will file nomination April 22 [Monday]. We took the decision because we wanted to give some more time to the Congress to take the final call on alliance in Delhi,” Rai said.
PC Chacko, Congress’s Delhi in-charge said, “We are yet to receive any fresh communication from AAP over a potential alliance in Delhi.”
Initially, alliance talks between the two parties in Delhi were stuck over the Congress’s insistence on 3:3:1 (one seat left to an independent candidate) and the AAP’s plan for 5:2 (with the majority share for itself).
For alliance in Delhi, Gandhi had Monday offered a formula of 4:3, with AAP taking the larger share. AAP leaders said they agreed to the numbers but an alliance in Delhi could only happen if the Congress also allied with the AAP in Haryana.
So far, the AAP is the only party to have named candidates in all seven seats in Delhi. This means, if they go for an alliance with the Congress, they will have to drop three candidates.
Rai, on Friday, refused to name the candidates who are likely to be dropped in case an alliance is forged with the Congress in Delhi.
