Haryana assembly elections: Congress, AAP in talks for alliance, grapple over seat sharing

The opposition INDIA bloc in India gave tough competition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Assembly elections are now due in the state of Haryana and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

In Haryana, the Congress party said on Tuesday (Sep 3) that it is in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to form an alliance. However, nothing has been finalised so far.

Efforts for an AAP-Congress alliance for Haryana Assembly polls have gained momentum with the two parties already in talks over seat-sharing, shared AAP sources.

While AAP is demanding 10 seats out of 90, the Congress is ready to give only seven, they added.

Sources in AAP said on Tuesday that Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Congress's KC Venugopal have held two rounds of talks and are likely to meet again.

"AAP is demanding 10 seats, but Congress is willing to give only seven. AAP has demanded one seat from each of the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies," said a source.

On Monday, several media reports said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting of the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) where he expressed interest in the possibility of an alliance with AAP for the Haryana assembly elections. 

Also read | ECI defers Haryana assembly poll date to October 5, new counting date announced

"We are in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party, but nothing has been finalised yet. As soon as something is finalised, we will inform you," All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana and Delhi, Deepak Babaria, said.

AAP reacts to possible alliance

Speaking to the news agency ANI, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh welcomed the proposal put on table by the Congress party. Singh said that Delhi Chief Minister and AAP's National Convener Arvind Kejriwal would be informed about the development.

"We welcome it. Our priority is to defeat the BJP... Our Haryana in-charge Sandeep Pathak and Sushil Gupta will discuss it and take a final decision and inform Arvind Kejriwal about it and a decision will be taken accordingly...," Singh said.

Can only give 3-4 seats to AAP: Former Haryana CM

Amid the rumours of a possible poll alliance between the Congress and the AAP, former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that his party could give only 3-4 seats to the AAP, and Kejriwal's party was demanding more than this.

So it is difficult to form an alliance, Hooda said, according to ANI. 

Local Congress leaders in Haryana, however, are against any alliance with AAP in the state.

Recently, senior Congress leader Kumari Selja said her party is strong in the state and will fight the elections on its own

When will Haryana assembly elections be held?

Voting on 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held in a single phase on October 5, and the counting of votes and declaration of results will be on October 8.

Earlier, the polls were scheduled to be held on October 1, and the counting of votes and declaration of results were supposed to be on October 4. 

On Tuesday, Congress held another round of the CEC meeting to decide the candidates for the elections. A total of 32 candidates have been finalised. It was earlier reported that wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were among the candidates. Babaria said that 41 seats were discussed in the CEC meeting, and there was no discussion on either Vinesh or Bajrang’s candidature.

"Vinesh Phogat's or Bajrang Punia's names are not among them. I think, there will be clarity over this by the day after tomorrow," Babaria told reporters. 

(With inputs from agencies)