The Aam Aadmi Party is in ‘wait and watch’ mode, sources told NDTV Friday after disagreements with the Congress over seat-sharing for next month’s Haryana election. AAP sources said the talks are ‘on hold’ pending a decision by party boss Arvind Kejriwal and clarity from the Central Election Committee, the Congress’ highest-decision making body which meets this evening.
Getting word back from Mr Kejriwal, who in January insisted his party would contest all 90 seats in Haryana on its own – might take more time as the AAP boss remains in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in the alleged liquor excise policy case, and has limited access to communications.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on his bail plea.
The two parties – both part of the INDIA bloc that united the opposition for the April-June general election, and delivered surprisingly strong results – reached an ‘in-principle deal on Wednesday.
This was after Rahul Gandhi urged his party to carry on the alliance, aware it will require a concerted effort to defeat the BJP in Haryana, a heartland state it has dominated since 2014.
However, early on there have been stumbling blocks.
AAP-Congress Seat-Share Talks
Sources have said the AAP wants to contest 10 of the state’s 90 Assembly seats.
The Congress, though, is unwilling to concede more than seven, pointing to its ally’s performance in the Lok Sabha election. The AAP contested one seat and lost, while the Congress contested nine and won five, preventing a second successive clean sweep by the BJP.
READ | AAP, Congress Alliance In Haryana? Seat Negotiations Begin: Sources
Nevertheless, a consolidation of AAP and Congress votes was pitched by Mr Gandhi as key to win back Haryana from the BJP, which claimed 47 of 90 Assembly seats in the 2019 poll.
But the Congress has since also onboarded wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, both of whom will contest this election. Ms Phogat and Mr Punia’s star power will be expected to lend heft to the party’s bargaining position, and improve its standing among Jat voters in the state.
READ | Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia In Haryana Polls As Congress Faces
By some reports the Jats account for 20 to 25 per cent of the state’s population.
Congress-AAP seat-sharing has also stumbled over which seats will be given to the latter.
Sources said the AAP wants seats on former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s turf, and which he was expecting to allot to loyalists. He told NDTV last month he had not spoken to the AAP’s state leaders since the general election, and that the alliance was not state-specific.
NDTV Exclusive | Bhupinder Hooda On Why It Is Advantage Congress In Haryana
“The alliance we had was at the national levels. We have not spoken to them. Here the fight is between BJP and Congress,” he said.
Many others in the Congress have also demurred at handing over too many seats to the AAP, in a scenario very similar to that which delayed seat-sharing deals before the general election.
But overall, it is being seen as important the Congress, and the opposition, to continue momentum gained from the Lok Sabha poll, with statement performances, if not wins, in the four remaining state polls this year. The other three are Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP’s Haryana Election Issues
The BJP, meanwhile, faces internal squabbles after naming a first list of 67 candidates, with Jails Minister Ranjit Chautala and MLA Lakshman Napa quitting after being denied tickets.
READ | Ahead Of Haryana Poll, Congress, BJP Stutter Over Lists Of Candidates
Mr Chautala has said he will contest as an independent candidate, while Mr Napa met Congress leader Hooda at his residence and said he would join that party.
Ranjit Chautala is the son of Devi Lal Chaudhary, one of the state’s tallest and most respected political leaders, who was also twice Chief Minister and served as Deputy Prime Minister.
READ | On BJP’s Haryana 1st List – Jail Officer Who Gave Ram Rahim 6 Paroles
A significant name in the BJP’s first list is former prison official Sunil Sangwan – had who granted Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Ram Rahim parole a staggering six times.
When Is The Haryana Election?
The Haryana Assembly election will be held on October 5.
The election was first scheduled for October 1 but it was deferred by the Election Commission to honour the voting rights and traditions of the Bishnoi community, who represent a sizeable voting community in at least three districts of the state.
Therefore, results for the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections – the first in the former state since 2014 – will now be announced on October 8 instead of October 4, the poll body said.
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